HE  WATER  WORKS  SYSTEM 

OF  THE 

CITY  OF  CHICAGO 


REPORT       PREPARED      BY      THE 
CHICAGO  BUREAU  OF  PUBLIC  EFFICIENCY 


DECEMBER.  1917 


PRIOR  PUBLICATIONS. 


Method    of   Preparing   and    Administering    the    Rudget    of   Cook    County.   Illinois 
January,  1911. 

Proposed  Purchase  of  Voting  Machines  by  the  Board  of  Election  Commissioners 
of  the  City  of  Chicago.     May,  1911.     (Out  of  Print.) 

Street  Pavement  L,ald  in  the  City  of  Chicago:      An  Inquiry  Into  Paving  Materials 
Methods  and  Results.     June,  1911.      (Out  of  Print.) 

Electrolysis  of  Water  Pipes  in  the  City  of  Chicago.     July,  1911.      (Out  of  Print.) 


5. 
6. 

Administration 
1911. 

A  Plea  for  Pub 
Print.) 

of  the  Office  of  Recorder  of   Cook   County,   Illinois.     September, 

r,  1911.     (Out  of 

7« 
8. 

9. 

Repairing  Asp! 
tract  of  191 

The   Municipal 
of  Chli1: 
Vote  No?     ( 

The  Water  AVo 
cciiibev,   191 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 

ago  Under  Con- 

hlch   the  Voters 
of  November  7— 

II.  Maury.     De- 

10. 

Rureau  of  Stre 
Ing  System 

LIBRARY 

ismeiit  Acconut- 
f  Print.) 

11. 
12. 

Administration 
1911. 

Administration 

^p 

»oi*.     December, 
December,  1911. 

IS. 

Administration 
Clerk  of  th 

r*A~> 

of  the  Office   of 
nber,  1911. 

14. 

The  Judges  and 

V/'T  0  Wol 

t  of  Print.) 

15. 

General    Summ 
Chicago.      I) 

Coo  P 

Governments    of 

10. 

The   Park   Govt 
Methods  of  : 

I 

rganization    miii 

17. 

.-.he  C 
Into  Their  < 

emental  Inquiry 
vember,  1912. 

Administration 

111. 

Office    of    Sheri 
Organizatio 

-SB 

>E  Cook  Coi.nty, 
nquirj-    Into    Its 

20. 

Growing  CoNt   i 

mber  30,   1912. 

—  i  . 

The     Voting    Maeb                     '                                                  •       B)                  :    i-cognition     In     Any 

Form  by  the  City 


(.•ago.     January  1,  1913. 


23. 
24, 


28. 


The  Office  of  the  County  Treasurer  of  Cook  County,  Illinois.  An  Inquiry  Into  the 
Administration  of  it*  Finances  with  Special  Reference  to  the  Question  of 
Interest  on  Public  Funds.  November,  1913. 

The   Nineteen  I/ocal   Governments  in   Chicago.      December,   191.1. 

The   Rond  Issues  to   He   Voted   Upon  April   7,  1914.     March  30,  1914. 

A    Secoju:    Pl«-a   for   Publicity   in   the  Office  of   County  Treasurer.     July  9,  1914. 

The  veruiueiit.s    in    Chicago.      (Second    Edition.)    March,    lOl-f. 

Unification  of  l,ocal  Governments  in  Chicago.     January,  1917. 

The  CJty     Manager  Plan   for  Chicago.      October.   1917. 

The  County  Rond  Issues  to  Re  Voted    Kpon   November  6,  1917.      October  30,  1917. 

Primary  Days  ami  Election  Days  as  Holiday*.  An  Instance  of  Governmental 
Absurdity  and  Waste.  November  !">,  lf»17. 

Chicago's  Financial  Dilemma.  Reply  to  a  Letter  from  City  Officials  Asking  Civic 
Organizations  to  Co-operate  in  ITrging  a  Special  Session  of  the  Legislature 
to  Provide  Financial  Relic?  for  the  City.  December,  1917. 


THE  WATER  WORKS  SYSTEM 


OF  THE 


CITY  OF  CHICAGO 


REPORT      PREPARED      BY      THE 

CHICAGO  BUREAU  OF  PUBLIC  EFFICIENCY 

315  PLYMOUTH  COURT 


CHICAGO    BUREAU 

OF 

PUBLIC  EFFICIENCY 


TRUSTEES 


JULIUS  ROSENWALD,  CTuiirman 
ALFRED  L.  BAKER,  Treasurer 

ONWARD  BATES  VICTOR  ELTING 

GEORGE  G.  TUNELL  ALLEN  B.  POND 

WALTER  L.  FISHER  FRANK  I.  MOULTON 


HARRIS  S.  KEELER,  Director 


co 


f.Z 


>.  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

OC 


Page 

fl              INTRODUCTION    9 

SUMMAEY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  13 

The  Water  Works  Plant :  /  13 

Water  Works  Finances   13 

Water  Fund  Diverted  to  Corporate  Uses 15 

The  Purity  of  the  Water  Supply 16 

Water  Waste  and  Leakage  and  Their  Prevention 18 

The  Extent  of  Preventable  Waste  and  Leakage 19 

Effects  of  Waste  and  Leakage  20 

Methods  of  Eeducing  Waste  and  Leakage 21 

Metering    22 

Meters  Do  Not  Eestrict  the  Use  of  Water 22 

Meters  Do  Not  Increase  Water  Bills 23 

Universal  Metering  Eecommended 24 

The  Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Universal  Metering  ....  25 

Eesponsibility  for  Existing  Conditions 27 

TEXT  OF  EEPOET  31 

I.     General  Description  of  the  Plant 31 

II.    The  Historical  Development  of  the  Water  Works  System  . .  36 

Pumping  Stations    37 

Chicago  Avenue  Station 37 

Twenty-second  Street  Station 39 

Harrison  Street  Station  41 

Fourteenth  Street  Station    42 

Further  Extension  of  the  City  Limits  in  1889 43 

Lake  View  Station 43 

Sixty-eighth  Street  Station 44 

Territory  Annexed  Since  1889 46 

Central  Park  Avenue  and  Springfield  Avenue  Sta- 
tions      46 

Eoseland  Station   48 

Norwood   Park,  Edison  Park,  and  Jefferson  Park 

Stations   50 

(0                                                Eogers  Park  Station  50 

Washington  Heights  Station 51 

Morgan  Park  Station  51 

Tunnels  and  Cribs  51 

First  Water  Tunnel 51 

Cross-Town  and  Blue  Island  Avenue  Tunnels 51 

North  Shore  Extension  Tunnel 53 

Four-Mile  and  Polk  Street  Tunnels  53 

Lake  View  Tunnel  .                      54 


44(3504 


4  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Sixty-eighth.  Street  Tunnels 55 

Northwest  Land  and  Lake  Tunnel 55 

Southwest  Land  Tunnel 55 

Description  of  an  Intake  Crib  56 

Further  Improvements  Proposed  or  under  Construction  57 

Mayf air  Station  and  Wilson  Avenue  Tunnel 58 

III.  Water  Works  Finances  59 

The  Value  of  the  Water  Works  Plant  59 

How  the  Cost  of  the  Plant  Has  Been  Financed 61 

The  Financial  Status  of  the  Water  Works  Business  ....  64 

Water  Bates 65 

Free  Water   68 

Eevenue  and  Expenditures  70 

Water  Fund  Diverted  to  Corporate  Uses 80 

IV.  Chicago 's  Water  Supply  Problems 89 

The  Question  of  Cost 89 

The  Purity  of  the  Supply 89 

The  Problem  as  Eelated  to  Health 89 

Efforts  to  Avoid  Pollution  by  Constructing  Cribs 

and  Tunnels 90 

Efforts  to  Prevent  Pollution  by  Diverting  Sewage 

from  the  Lake 92 

Present  Condition  of  Lake  Water  at  Chicago 94 

Turbidity 102 

The  Need  for  Further  Purification  103 

Location  of  Intake  Cribs  as  Eelated  to  Purity  of 

Supply  104 

Filtration  105 

The  Adequacy  of  the  Supply 106 

Chicago  Pressures  Insufficient  107 

The  Effect  of  Low  Pressures Ill 

Fire  Protection  Service  Ill 

Low  Pressures  Due  to  Excessive  Friction  Losses  . . .  112 
Curtailment  of  Water  Waste  a  Paramount  Need  . .  114 

V.  Water  Waste  and  Leakage 115 

"Use"  and  "Waste"  Defined 115 

Eeducing  Waste  Does  not  Mean  Eestricting  Use  . . .  116 

The  Waste  Problem  in  Chicago  117 

The  Situation  Prior  to  1900  117 

Developments  Since  1900 118 

Consumption  of  Water  in  Chicago  Excessive 121 

What  Becomes  of  the  Water  Pumped  in  Chicago 124 

Estimate  of  City  Engineer 124 

Consumption  Classified  According  to  Uses 124 

Industrial  Consumption  125 

Domestic  Consumption  125 

Municipal  Consumption  126 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  5 

Page 

Waste  and  Leakage 128 

Water  Lost  in  Delivery  128 

Water  Lost  on  Premises 129 

Apparent  Losses 129 

Under-Eegistration  of  Meters 130 

Preventable  and  Unpreventable  Waste  and  Leakage  . . .  131 

Pump  Slippage   131 

Leakage  in  the  Distribution  System 132 

Waste  and  Leakage  on  Premises 134 

The  Extent  of  Preventable  Waste  and  Leakage  ....  136 

Economic  Loss  Due  to  Waste 136 

Waste  Impairs  Service    139 

Effect  of  Waste  on  the  Development  and  Cost  of 

the  Plant 139 

Effect  of  Waste  on  Cost  of  Operation  and  Main- 
tenance     144 

Effect  of  Waste  on  the  Cost  of  Filtration 146 

Waste  as  Eelated  to  Sewage  Disposal 147 

VI.     The  Eeduction  of  Water  Waste 148 

Eeducing  Losses  in  Delivery  149 

Methods  of  Eeducing  Losses  on  Consumers'  Premises  .  152 

House-to-House  Inspections  153 

Inspections  Not  Completely  Effective 153 

Inspection  Method  Costly  154 

Inspections  Produce  Only  Temporary  Eesults 155 

Penalties  Must  Be  Enforced 156 

Metering 157 

Metering  Effective,  Permanent,  and  Economical  . . .  157 

Metering  the  Equitable  Way  to  Sell  Water 158 

Popular  Objection  to  Metering  160 

Meters  Do  Not  Eestriet  "Use"  of  Water 181 

Meters  and  Their  Effect  upon  Water  Bills 166 

Universal  Metering  Eecommended  174 

Plans  for  Putting  Universal  Metering  into  Effect  . .  175 
Advantages  of  Plumbing  Eepairs  Prior  to  Setting 

Meters 179 

Metering  Should  Be  Accompanied  by  Water  Waste 

Surveys 179 

Meters  Should  Be  Installed  and  Maintained  by  City  180 

Eevenue  Eequirements  and  Water  Eates 180 

Minimum  Charges   184 

What  Metering  Will  Effect :    Waste  Eeduction — Im- 
proved Service — Money  Saving  189 

How  Money  Saving  Will  Be  Effected 194 

Savings  in  Capital  Outlays  for  New  Plant 196 

Savings  in  Operating  and  Maintenance  Costs    ....  203 

Total  Saving  to  Be  Effected  204 

Eesponsibility  for  Existing  Conditions   206 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS 

Tables:  Page 

Dimensions  and  Capacities  of  Chicago  Water  Tunnels  . .  32 
Chicago  Pumping  Stations — Number  and  Capacity  of 

Pumps;    Also    Maximum    and    Average    Daily 

Pumpage  in  1916  34 

Amount  of  Water  Pipe  in  Use  in  Chicago  at  Close  of 

1916  36 

Investment  in  Chicago  Water  Works  Plant,  1902-1916  .  .  60 

How  Cost  of  the  Plant  Has  Been  Financed 61 

Financial  Status  of  Chicago  Water  Works  Business  ....  64 

Revenue  of  Water  Fund,  1912-1916  71 

Total  Expenditures  from  Water  Fund,  1912-1916 72 

Revenue,  Expenditures  and  Surplus  of  Water  Fund, 

1912-1916  73 

Expenditures  for  Operation,  1912-1916  74 

Expenditures  for  Eepairs  and  Renewals,  1912-1916  ....  75 
Expenditures  for  Additions,  Extensions,  and  Better- 
ments, 1912-1916  76 

Amounts  Paid  from  Water  Fund  to  General  Corporate 

Fund 85,  86 

Water  Pressures  at  Various  Points  of  the  Distribution 

System  for  Certain  Periods  During  1917 109 

Total  Average  Daily  Consumption  and  Average  Daily 

Consumption  per  Capita  for  Chicago,  1901-1916  121 
Water  Consumption  Statistics  of  Various  American 

Cities  123 

Estimated  Saving  to  Be  Effected  by  Universal  Metering, 

1918-1950   27,  206 

Maps: 

Map  Showing  Pumping  Stations,  Tunnels,  Cribs,  and 

Territorial  Growth  of  Chicago  opposite  37 

Map  Showing  Distribution  of  Population  in  Chicago 

opposite  196 

Charts: 

Chart  Showing  Death  Rate  in  Chicago  from  Typhoid 

Fever,  1875-1916  95 

Chart  Showing  1915  and  1916  Death  Rates  in  Nine 

American  Cities  from  Typhoid  Fever  97 

Chart  Showing  Rate  of  Increase  of  Population  and  of 

Average  Daily  Pumpage  in  Chicago,  1901-1916.  119 

Chart  Showing  What  Becomes  of  the  Water  Pumped  in 

Chicago  127 

Chart  Showing  Chicago's  Preventable  Water  Waste 
Compared  with  the  Combined  Pumpage  of  Mil- 
waukee, Boston,  Cleveland,  and  St.  Louis 135 

Chart  Showing  Effect  of  Metering  upon  Pumpage  in 

Cleveland  190 

Chart  Showing  Effect  of  Metering  upon  Pumpage  in 

Boston  192 

Chart  Showing  Past  and  Estimated  Future  Growth  in 

Population  of  Chicago 195 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  7 

Charts     (Continued) :  Page 

Chart  Showing  Probable  Future  Effect  of  Complete  Me- 
tering upon  Daily  Pumpage  per  Capita  in 
Chicago  198 

Chart  Showing  Probable  Future  Effect  of  Complete 

Metering  upon  Total  Daily  Pumpage  in  Chicago  199 

Chart  Showing  Probable  Effect  of  Complete  Metering 
upon  the  Future  Cost  of  Construction  of  the 
Chicago  Water  Works  Plant  201 

Chart  Showing  Estimated  Saving  to  Be  Effected  by 

Universal  Metering,  1918-1950 205 

Illustrations : 

Illustration  Showing  Size  of  Reservoir  that  Would  Be 
Eequired  to  Hold  One  Day's  Pumpage  of  the 
Chicago  Water  Works 29 

Map  of  the  United  States  Showing  Distance  Water 
Mains  in  Use  in  Chicago  Would  Extend  if 
Placed  End  to  End 30 

Typical  Profile  Showing  How  the  Water  of  Lake  Michi- 

§an  Flows  from  an  Intake  Crib  to  a  Pumping 
tation     33 

Photograph  of  Chicago  Avenue  Pumping  Station   38 

Photograph  of  Twenty-second  Street  Pumping  Station     40 

Photograph  of  Harrison  Street  Pumping  Station 41 

Photograph  of  Fourteenth  Street  Pumping  Station  ....     42 

Photograph  of  Lake  View  Pumping  Station 44 

Photograph  of  Sixty-eighth  Street  Pumping  Station  . .  45 
Photograph  of  Central  Park  Avenue  Pumping  Station  . .  47 
Photograph  of  Springfield  Avenue  Pumping  Station  ....  48 

Photograph  of  Roseland  Pumping  Station   49 

Photographs  of  Intake  Cribs  52 

Photograph  of  Interior  of  Edward  F.  Dunne  Crib 56 

Illustration  Showing  Comparison  of  Average  Daily  Con- 
sumption of  Water  per  Person  for  Domestic 
Purposes  with  the  Amount  of  Preventable 

Water  Waste  and  Leakage  in  Chicago 137 

Illustration  Showing  Size  of  One  Year's  Coal  Supply  for 

the  Chicago  Water  Works    145 


INTRODUCTION 


The  accompanying  report  on  THE  WATER  WORKS  SYS- 
TEM OF  THE  CITY  OF  CHICAGO  has  been  prepared  in  pursu- 
ance of  authority  granted  to  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Pub- 
lic Efficiency  July  13, 1914,  by  the  Hon.  Carter  H.  Harri- 
son, Mayor,  to  investigate  ' '  the  Bureau  of  Water  and  that 
part  of  the  Bureau  of  Engineering  which  has  charge  of 
affairs  connected  with  the  water  service  of  the  city." 

The  inquiry  was  undertaken  in  September,  1914,  but 
the  completion  of  the  report  has  been  delayed  by  the 
pressure  of  more  immediately  urgent  work. 

The  service  of  the  Chicago  Water  Works  and  its  ef- 
ficiency are  involved  in  two  kinds  of  problems.  First, 
there  are  those  which  result  from  the  policies  in  con- 
formity with  which  the  business  is  conducted,  such  as 
general  problems  of  finance,  the  problem  of  a  pure  water 
supply,  and  the  problem  of  water  waste  and  its  preven- 
tion. Secondly,  there  are  those  problems  that  relate  es- 
sentially to  the  efficiency  of  organization  and  of  methods 
of  administration. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  part  of  its  report,  the  Bu- 
reau has  considered  only  problems  of  the  first  group. 
Questions  of  organization  and  administration  will  be 
dealt  with  in  another  part  of  the  report  to  be  prepared 
and  published  in  the  future. 

The  most  important  problem  which  confronts  the 
Chicago  Water  Works  is  that  of  water  waste  and  its  pre- 
vention. This  is  recognized  by  our  own  water  works 
officials  and  by  all  other  water  works  men  familiar  with 
existing  conditions.  These  men  also  understand  the  so- 


10  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

lution  of  this  probleni.  No  extended  discussion  of  the 
subject  is  needed  so  far  as  they  are  concerned. 

As  yet,  however,  both  the  City  Council  and  the  general 
public  have  failed  to  understand  and  to  appreciate  either 
the  ruinous  effects  of  water  waste  upon  service  or  the 
enormous  financial  loss  which  it  involves. 

The  relief  from  present  conditions,  which  has  been 
long  sought  by  the  City  Engineer  and  his  assistants,  must 
come  through  the  City  Council.  The  Council  should  as- 
sume the  initiative.  But  complete  success  will  be  had 
only  if  back  of  the  Council  there  is  public  support.  To 
secure  this  will  necessitate  educating  a  considerable  part 
of  the  public  in  the  matter. 

The  principal  value  which  a  report  of  this  kind  can 
have  is  its  educational  value.  In  preparing  it,  therefore, 
the  primary  endeavor  has  been  to  avoid  so  far  as  pos- 
sible the  discussion  of  technical  questions,  and  to  set 
forth  in  non-technical  form  such  information  bearing 
upon  the  more  important  features  of  the  water  works 
system,  its  development,  the  general  problems  which  it 
presents  and  their  solution,  as  may  be  of  interest  to  the 
public  and  as  will  serve  as  a  basis  for  promoting  public 
education  and  intelligent  public  opinion  on  these  sub- 
jects. This  applies  particularly  to  the  problem  of  water 
waste  and  to  the  question  of  universal  metering,  which 
the  Bureau  believes  must  be  put  into  effect  if  the  waste 
problem  is  to  be  satisfactorily  solved. 

Shortly  after  undertaking  this  water  works  inquiry,  the 
Bureau  arranged  with  Mr.  John  W.  Alvord,  Mem.  Am. 
Soc.  C.  E.,  past  president  American  Water  Works  As- 
sociation, and  a  consulting  engineer  of  national  reputa- 
tion, to  make  a  preliminary  survey  of  the  entire  situa- 
tion and  to  advise  with  respect  to  the  more  important 
problems  involved  therein.  During  the  preparation  of 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  11 

this  report,  also,  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  has  had  the 
opportunity  of  consulting  freely  with  both  Mr.  Alvord 
and  with  his  principal  assistant,  Mr.  L.  B.  Howson.  Mr. 
Alvord  has  examined  the  report  since  its  completion  and 
concurs  in  the  conclusions  reached,  especially  those  re- 
lating to  water  waste  and  metering.  The  assistance  thus 
rendered  has  been  of  very  great  value  and  any  acknowl- 
edgment of  it  would  be  incomplete  without  a  word  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  public  spirit  which  animated  it. 

The  Bureau  wishes  to  acknowledge  also  the  friendly 
and  courteous  co-operation  and  assistance  invariably  ex- 
tended by  the  City  Engineer,  the  Superintendent  of  Wa- 
ter, and  their  assistants. 

CHICAGO  BUREAU  OF  PUBLIC  EFFICIENCY, 
HARRIS  S.  KEELER, 

Director. 
December,  1917. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 


THE  WATER  WORKS  PLANT 

The  Chicago  water  supply  is  drawn  from  Lake  Michi- 
gan through  six  intake  cribs  located  from  two  to  four 
miles  offshore.  From  the  intake  cribs  the  water  flows 
by  gravity  through  50  miles  of  tunnels,  varying  from  five 
feet  to  fourteen  feet  in  diameter,  to  nine  large  pumping 
stations,  where  it  is  lifted  by  45  pumping  engines  into  the 
distribution  mains,  consisting  of  2,800  miles  of  cast  iron 
pipe,  ranging  from  four  inches  to  forty-eight  inches  in 
diameter,  through  which  it  is  delivered  to  300,000  taps 
serving  approximately  2,500,000  people  with  over  600,- 
000,000  gallons  of  water  a  day,  a  daily  average  of  259 
gallons  for  each  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  City.  This 
is  more  water  than  is  supplied  by  any  other  water  works 
system  in  the  world. 

WATER  WORKS  FINANCES 

At  the  close  of  1916  the  original  cost  of  the  water 
works  plant  was  approximately  $70,000,000.  This  cost 
has  been  increasing  rapidly  during  recent  years,  having 
practically  doubled  since  1901.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  the  pumping  equipment,  tunnels,  and  distribution 
mains  are  now  far  overbuilt  for  the  reasonable  require- 
ments of  the  City,  enlargements  and  extensions  are  pro- 
gressing at  the  rate  of  about  $3,500,000  a  year.  These 
extensions  result  from  the  policy  of  trying  to  cope  with 


14  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  problem  of  water  waste  by  constantly  providing  ad- 
ditional pumps  and  other  equipment. 

The  revenue  of  the  water  works  is  now  about  $7,000,- 
000  annually  and  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  from  $300,000 
to  $400,000  a  year.  In  1916,  after  deducting  operating  and 
maintenance  costs,  including  depreciation,  the  water 
works  business  paid  about  3.6  per  cent  on  the  capital 
outlay. 

The  excess  of  revenue  over  operating  and  maintenance 
costs,  which  represents  the  return  on  the  public's  in- 
vested capital,  in  recent  years  has  amounted  to  from 
$2,500,000  to  $3,000,000  annually.  However,  instead  of 
the  public  profiting  by  this  return  through  lower  water 
rates,  the  money  is  being  continually  reinvested  in  ex- 
tensions of  the  plant,  which  are  necessitated  by  the  ex- 
cessive amount  of  water  waste  and  leakage  which  pre- 
vail. Thus  waste  and  leakage  are  depriving  the  com- 
munity of  a  substantial  part  of  the  benefit  which  it  should 
obtain  through  its  ownership  of  the  water  works. 

Since  1914,  expenditures  for  additions  to  the  plant 
and  other  purposes  have  far  exceeded  revenue,  and  the 
surplus  in  the  water  fund,  which  at  that  time  was 
more  than  $4,000,000,  has  become  so  seriously  impaired 
that  during  1917  it  has  been  necessary  to  issue  water  cer- 
tificates. The  Finance  Committee  of  the  City  Council 
has  also  recommended  a  20  per  cent  increase  in  water 
rates.  The  Council  did  not  adopt  this  proposal,  but  such 
an  increase  will  probably  soon  become  unavoidable  unless 
action  is  taken  to  curtail  water  waste  and  leakage  and 
expenditures  for  plant  extensions  and  other  purposes  are 
curbed. 

The  cost  of  constructing  the  water  works  has  been 
financed  principally  with  revenue  derived  from  the  sale 
of  water  and  from  miscellaneous  sources.  About  ten 


The  Water  Works  System  of  CMcago  15 

years  ago,  however,  the  City  adopted  the  policy  of  levy- 
ing a  direct  property  tax  for  the  redemption  of  bonds 
issued  for  water  works  purposes.  Since  this  policy  was 
inaugurated,  more  than  $3,000,000  has  been  thus  raised 
and  applied  in  the  payment  of  bond  principal  and  in- 
terest. There  are  still  outstanding  about  $2,000,000  of 
bonds  issued  for  water  works  purposes,  which  are  being 
redeemed  from  year  to  year  with  general  tax  moneys. 
This  practice  should  be  stopped.  It  serves  to  relieve  the 
water  fund  of  its  legitimate  obligations  and  in  that  way 
to  make  it  possible  for  the  City  Council  to  divert  water 
revenue  to  other  uses.  Levying  a  tax  with  which  to  pay 
water  works  obligations  and  then  diverting  the  water 
fund  to  general  corporate  uses  amounts  to  levying  addi- 
tional taxes  for  general  corporate  purposes  by  indirec- 
tion, and  is  to  be  severely  condemned. 

Water  Fund  Diverted  to  Corporate  Uses 

One  factor  that  has  contributed  to  the  present  depleted 
condition  of  the  water  fund  is  the  use  of  large  sums  of 
water  revenue  for  other  than  water  works  purposes.  On 
principle,  a  public  utility  like  the  water  works  should 
not  be  used  to  raise  revenue  for  general  corporate  pur- 
poses. To  sanction  the  practice  is  to  invite  extrava- 
gance and  abuses.  The  law  expressly  provides  that  the 
water  fund  shall  be  used  only  for  water  works  purposes. 
Generally,  expenditures  from  the  water  fund  for  other 
City  departments  are  made  on  the  theory  that  such  de- 
partments render  service  to  the  water  works  and  that  the 
cost  of  such  service  should  be  borne  by  that  fund.  This 
theory  implies  that  the  services  rendered  are  necessary 
to  the  carrying  on  of  the  water  works  business.  Ob- 
viously such  charges  should  be  limited  to  services  of  that 
kind  and  there  should  be  a  definite  relation  between  the 


16  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

value  of  the  services  rendered  and  the  amount  charged. 
Unfortunately,  in  the  past  that  has  not  been  the  case  and 
there  is  no  definite  assurance  that  it  is  so  even  now. 

The  most  flagrant  violation  of  both  the  spirit  and  the 
letter  of  the  law  prohibiting  the  use  of  water  revenue  for 
other  than  water  works  purposes  is  to  be  found  in  the 
expenditure  of  between  $450,000  and  $500,000  annually 
in  recent  years  on  account  of  the  sewers  and  sewage 
pumping  stations.  Whatever  might  be  said  of  the  right 
to  use  the  water  fund  to  prevent  sewage  from  polluting 
the  water  supply,  the  fact  is  that  the  expenditures  now 
made  from  this  fund  are  not  for  such  purpose. 

The  Bureau  recommends  that  in  the  future  expendi- 
tures from  the  water  fund  be  limited  to  water  works 
purposes ;  also  that  steps  be  taken  to  establish  definitely 
the  value  of  services  rendered  to  the  water  works  by  other 
departments,  with  a  view  to  placing  the  transactions  in- 
volved upon  a  businesslike  basis. 

THE  PURITY  OF  THE  WATER  SUPPLY 

Lake  Michigan  furnishes  an  unlimited  quantity  of  wa- 
ter of  a  high  degree  of  original  purity.  The  trouble 
which  Chicago  has  always  had  with  its  water  supply 
has  been  due  to  the  large  amount  of  polluting  matter 
which  this  City  itself  and  neighboring  cities  and  towns 
have  discharged  into  the  lake. 

Efforts  to  avoid  and  counteract  this  pollution  by  locat- 
ing the  intake  cribs  as  far  from  the  shore  as  practicable ; 
by  keeping  sewage  and  other  contaminating  matter  out 
of  the  lake;  and  more  recently  by  sterilizing  the  water 
with  chlorine  gas  have  greatly  improved  the  quality  of 
the  supply. 

Under  present  conditions  the  lake  water  at  Chicago  is 
exceptionally  good  a  large  part  of  the  time  without  chem- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  17 

ical  or  other  treatment.  At  other  times  it  is  badly  pol- 
luted and  unfit  for  drinking  unless  sterilized  or  other- 
wise purified.  There  are  several  well-defined  sources  of 
this  pollution.  None  of  them  is  continuous  and  uniform. 
All  are  occasional  only  and  depend  largely  upon  weather 
conditions  and  accidents  of  navigation.  But  that  does 
not  lessen  the  danger  from  them.  In  some  ways  it  tends 
to  increase  the  danger  since  it  may  produce  a  false  sense 
of  security. 

It  is  not  enough  for  water  to  be  free  from  pollution  the 
greater  part  of  the  time.  It  is  essential  that  it  be  pure 
all  the  time.  A  water  supply  contaminated  on  four  or 
five  days  in  a  year  may  result  in  serious  epidemics.  For- 
tunately, the  public  officials  of  Chicago  realize  these  facts 
and  are  attempting  to  safeguard  the  supply  against  oc- 
casional pollution  by  sterilizing  the  water  all  the  time. 

Although  occasional  and  chance  pollution  cannot  be  en- 
tirely eliminated,  if  freedom  from  water-borne  disease 
alone  were  required  sterilization  probably  would  meet 
the  situation.  The  use  of  chemicals,  however,  at  times 
renders  the  water  offensive  to  both  taste  and  smell.  The 
unpleasant  taste  and  odor  now  frequently  present  in  the 
water  is  due  to  the  use  of  chlorine  gas  for  purification 
purposes. 

Sterilization,  moreover,  will  not  remove  the  muddy  or 
turbid  condition  of  the  water  which  is  frequently  caused 
by  the  stirring  up  of  the  bottom  of  the  lake  by  storms, 
and  which  always  makes  the  water  uninviting  not  only 
for  drinking  but  for  bathing  and  other  domestic  pur- 
poses. To  obtain  water  free  from  turbidity,  it  will  be 
necessary  either  to  filter  the  present  supply  or  to  extend 
the  intake  cribs  out  into  the  lake  to  points  twelve  to  fif- 
teen miles  offshore.  In  view  of  the  uncertainty  of  obtain- 
ing water  which  is  free  from  occasional  pollution  even 


18  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

at  these  more  distant  points,  and  of  the  almost  prohibi- 
tive cost  of  such  extensions,  it  is  considered  imprac- 
ticable to  build  them. 

Public  health  authorities  and  the  public  generally  are 
constantly  demanding  a  higher  standard  of  purity  for 
domestic  water  supplies,  and  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  people  of  this  City  will  long  be  content  with  a  supply 
which  is  inferior  to  that  of  other  great  cities  of  the  world. 
It  seems  safe  to  predict,  therefore,  that  in  the  not  far 
distant  future  Chicago  will  demand  water  of  greater 
purity  and  cleanliness,  and  that  filtration,  which  will 
eliminate  both  the  danger  of  bacterial  impurities  and 
turbidity,  will  be  the  means  of  obtaining  such  a  supply. 

WATER  WASTE  AND  LEAKAGE  AND  THEIR 
PREVENTION 

Notwithstanding  the  unlimited  quantity  of  water  close 
at  hand  and  unusually  favorable  conditions  for  its  dis- 
tribution, there  are  constantly  recurring  complaints  of 
a  shortage  of  water  and  of  insufficient  pressure  in  vari- 
ous sections  of  the  City. 

The  pressures  which  prevail  are  generally  too  low  for 
efficient  service.  In  most  parts  of  the  City,  water  is  not 
being  supplied  above  the  third  floors  at  any  time.  Dur- 
ing periods  when  the  demand  for  water  is  greatest  there 
is  a  failure  to  supply  third  floors.  In  some  sections  of  the 
City  the  service  is  not  satisfactory  and  uninterrupted 
even  on  lower  floors.  Consumers  who  do  not  live  near 
pumping  stations  or  adjacent  to  large  supply  mains  are 
frequently  without  water. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  Chicago  water  supply  is  not  due 
to  any  lack  of  pumping  equipment  but  is  due  entirely  to 
the  vast  amount  of  water  lost  through  waste  and  leakage. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  19 

Waste  and  leakage  are  also  causing  enormous  financial 
losses  and  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the  ultimate 
problems  of  filtration  and  of  sewage  disposal. 

The  Extent  of  Preventable  Waste  and  Leakage 

The  average  amount  of  water  pumped  daily  during 
1916  was  645,000,000  gallons.  This  pumpage  was  14  per 
cent  more  than  the  entire  supply  of  the  City  of  (Greater) 
New  York,  the  population  of  which  is  more  than  double 
the  population  of  Chicago,  and  it  is  conceded  by  every 
person  familiar  with  the  situation  that  it  was  more  than 
twice  the  quantity  required  to  furnish  Chicago  an  abund- 
ant supply  for  domestic,  business,  and  other  uses.  In 
1916,  the  amount  of  water  pumped  in  Chicago  was  the 
equivalent  of  259  gallons  per  day  per  person.  Only  one 
important  city  in  the  country — Buffalo — supplies  more 
water  per  person  than  does  Chicago.  Cleveland  and 
Milwaukee,  both  of  which  are  lake  cities  and  important 
industrial  centers  in  which  conditions  of  consumption 
are  similar  to  those  in  Chicago,  report  a  pumpage  per 
person  of  113  and  118  gallons  per  day,  respectively. 
These  figures  are  in  striking  contrast  with  the  Chicago 
figures  and  indicate  approximately  the  proportion  of 
preventable  waste  and  leakage  which  now  exist  in  the 
Chicago  system. 

In  a  general  way,  it  is  known  that  only  about  40  per 
cent  of  the  water  pumped  in  Chicago  is  used  in  the  sense 
that  it  is  consumed  for  some  purpose  for  which  water 
is  necessary  or  has  a  real  value,  and  that  the  remaining 
60  per  cent  is  lost  in  one  way  or  another  through  waste 
and  leakage.  Part  of  this  loss  occurs  in  the  course  of 
the  delivery  of  the  water  from  the  pumping  stations  to 
the  premises  of  the  consumers  and  results  from  leaks  in 
pumps,  distribution  mains,  and  service  pipes;  part  of 


20  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

it  occurs  after  the  water  is  delivered  to  the  consumers' 
premises  and  is  occasioned  by  leaky  pipes  and  plumbing 
fixtures  and  by  wilful  waste. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  distribute  water  without  some 
leakage,  particularly  in  the  distribution  mains  and  serv- 
ice pipes.  Therefore,  the  waste  and  leakage  in  the  Chi- 
cago system  cannot  be  entirely  prevented.  By  far  the 
greater  part  of  it  can  be  eliminated,  however. 

It  is  believed  that  if  effective  waste  control  measures 
are  adopted  the  pumpage  per  person  can  be  reduced  to 
125  gallons  per  day.  Such  an  allowance  is  considerably 
in  excess  of  the  pumpage  of  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  and 
other  cities  under  good  waste  control,  and  would  provide 
an  abundant  supply  for  Chicago. 

By  reducing  its  pumpage  to  125  gallons  per  person  per 
day,  Chicago  will  effect  a  daily  saving  of  330,000,000 
gallons  of  water  or  the  load  of  approximately  700  sixty- 
car  freight  trains.  The  saving  which  can  be  thus  ef- 
fected more  than  equals  the  combined  supply  of  Mil- 
waukee, Boston,  Cleveland,  and  St.  Louis. 

Effects  of  Waste  and  Leakage 

Besides  its  ruinous  effect  upon  service,  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  large  volume  of  water  lost  through  waste 
and  leakage  means  a  serious  financial  loss.  There  is  an 
abundance  of  water  in  the  lake  and,  of  course,  the  water 
itself  is  free,  but  the  City  is  in  the  business  of  transport- 
ing it  from  the  lake  to  the  premises  of  consumers  and 
its  transportation  costs  money.  During  1916  it  cost  more 
than  $1,000,000  just  to  pump  water  which  is  often  re- 
garded as  free.  It  takes  as  much  labor,  coal,  other  sup- 
plies, and  equipment  to  pump  water  into  the  sewers  or 
into  the  ground  as  it  does  to  furnish  it  for  a  useful  pur- 
pose. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  21 

The  financial  loss  results  in  two  ways.  Enormous  ex- 
penditures are  required  for  equipment  which  otherwise 
would  not  be  needed.  Moreover,  more  pumps  and  boilers 
must  be  operated  and  maintained.  This  means  increas- 
ing the  cost  of  pumping  station  labor,  fuel,  supplies,  and 
repairs.  It  is  now  costing  about  $500,000  a  year  to  pump 
water  which  is  later  wasted  or  which  leaks  away.  In  1916, 
190,000  tons  of  coal,  valued  at  $450,000,  were  consumed  in 
the  Chicago  pumping  stations.  One-half  of  this  amount 
was  used  to  pump  water  that  was  wasted.  In  view  of  the 
problems  now  involved  in  mining  and  transporting  coal 
and  of  the  resulting  need  for  conserving  its  use,  the 
necessity  for  preventing  water  waste,  and  hence  fuel 
waste,  is  becoming  more  and  more  urgent. 

Methods  of  Reducing  Waste  and  Leakage 

Efforts  to  reduce  waste  and  leakage  should  be  directed 
against  losses  both  in  delivery  and  on  the  premises  of 
consumers.  Reducing  and  holding  such  losses  to  a  prac- 
tical minimum  in  the  mains  and  service  pipes  call  for  a 
systematic  and  continuous  survey  of  the  entire  distribu- 
tion system.  So  far  as  losses  within  the  consumers' 
premises  are  concerned,  they  can  be  substantially  elim- 
inated. Keeping  plumbing  tight  and  shutting  off  the 
water  when  it  is  not  in  use  are  the  important  factors  in 
controlling  waste  and  leakage  of  this  sort. 

There  are  two  methods  of  controlling  waste  on  con- 
sumers' premises:  one  is  by  frequent  house-to-house  in- 
spections; the  other  is  by  the  installation  of  meters. 
House-to-house  inspections  are  never  completely  effec- 
tive. They  are  expensive  and  uneconomical.  They  pro- 
duce only  temporary  results.  They  are  generally  burden- 
some and  annoying  to  householders  and  to  be  even  mea- 


22  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

surably  effective  must  be  accompanied  by  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  penalties. 


METERING 

Metering,  on  the  other  hand,  is  effective  and  the  results 
obtained  by  it  are  permanent.  Considering  that  its  cost 
is  about  the  same  as  the  cost  for  house-to-house  inspec- 
tions, it  is  therefore  by  far  the  more  economical  method. 
It  is  also  the  equitable  way  to  apportion  water  charges, 
since  each  consumer  pays  for  the  water  that  he  takes  and 
no  more. 

Notwithstanding  its  obvious  advantages,  there  is  gen- 
erally a  strong  prejudice  against  metering  wherever  it 
has  not  been  adopted.  It  is  significant,  however,  that 
cities  in  which  meters  have  been  installed  have  not  gone 
back  to  former  methods,  the  meters  having  proved  satis- 
factory both  to  the  municipality  and  to  the  consumers. 
Milwaukee  and  Cleveland  are  typical  examples. 

The  opposition  to  metering  is  due  largely  to  prejudice 
and  to  a  lack  of  information  as  to  the  results  which  follow 
the  installation  of  meters.  There  is  a  generally  prevalent 
belief  that  meters  result  in  restricting  the  customary  use 
of  water,  or  that,  in  the  absence  of  such  restricted  use, 
water  bills  will  be  increased. 

Meters  Do  Not  Restrict  the  Use  of  Water 

Experience  has  demonstrated,  however,  that  where 
meters  have  been  introduced  they  neither  restrict  the  use 
of  water  nor  increase  water  bills.  They  produce  results 
not  by  restricting  usage,  but  by  preventing  waste  and 
leakage.  It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  preventing 
waste  and  leakage  means  reducing  so  far  as  practicable 
the  loss  of  water  through  leakage  and  other  causes,  and 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  23 

that  it  does  not  mean  curtailing  or  restricting  any  per- 
son in  his  accustomed  use  of  water.  What  is  desired  is 
to  stop  pumping  and  distributing  an  enormous  volume  of 
water  that  is  of  no  use  to  any  one.  It  is  neither  neces- 
sary nor  desirable  to  restrict  the  use  of  water.  It  should 
be  supplied  in  abundance  and  its  use  encouraged.  With 
practically  every  consumer  exercising  care  to  eliminate 
waste,  water  can  be  furnished  so  cheaply  that  no  one 
need  think  of  restricting  the  amount  of  which  he  can  make 
any  use.  Metering  is  advocated  for  Chicago  partly  be- 
cause it  is  the  most  effective  means  of  insuring  an  abun- 
dant supply  under  sufficient  pressure  to  enable  all  con- 
sumers to  obtain  promptly  and  at  all  times  the  water 
which  they  require  and  are  entitled  to  for  their  legitimate 
uses.  Such  a  condition  has  never  existed  in  Chicago. 

Meters  Do  Not  Increase  Water  Bills 

Experience  shows  also  that  where  rates  are  properly 
adjusted  meters  do  not  result  in  increasing  water  bills  in 
the  majority  of  cases.  A  few  illustrations  will  demon- 
strate this.  The  flat  rate  charge  in  Chicago  which  is 
applicable  to  thousands  of  small  houses  is  $5.64  a  year; 
if  a  hose  is  used  the  charge  is  $7.14.  An  ordinary  two-flat 
building  is  charged  $10.88  a  year;  if  a  hose  is  used  the 
charge  is  $12.38.  About  two-thirds  of  all  consumers  in 
Cleveland  pay  $5  a  year  or  less.  In  Milwaukee,  where 
no  minimum  charge  obtains,  nine-tenths  of  the  consumers 
pay  less  than  $10  for  their  year's  supply;  three-fourths 
of  them  pay  less  than  $5  a  year ;  and  half  pay  less  than 
$3  a  year.  The  records  of  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  which  is  a 
high  class  residential  community,  the  people  of  which  use 
water  lavishly,  show  that  at  the  Chicago  meter  rate  of 
6£  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  three-fourths  of  the  con- 
sumers would  pay  less  than  $5  a  year. 


24  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

The  Oak  Park  records  also  show  that  at  the  Chicago 
meter  rate  the  average  yearly  charge  for  residences  in 
Oak  Park  would  be  approximately  $4  per  year  and  the 
average  charge  for  apartment  buildings  of  all  sizes  would 
be  about  $8.50  per  year.  These  figures  should  be  particu- 
larly interesting  to  Chicago  property  owners  who  are 
paying  substantially  double  these  amounts  for  the  same 
quantity  of  water  in  the  same  class  of  buildings. 

In  three  sections  of  Chicago  where  meters  heretofore 
have  been  installed  in  residences  and  two-flat  buildings, 
the  records  show  that  the  average  yearly  charge  per  resi- 
dence is  $4,  $4.50,  and  $6.70,  respectively;  also  that  a 
very  large  number  of  consumers  pay  less  than  $4  a  year. 
The  accounts  covering  100  two-flat  buildings  show  an 
average  charge  of  $5.70  per  year. 

Landlords  are  generally  among  the  opponents  of 
meters,  because  they  fear  that  their  bills  will  be  increased 
by  the  wasteful  and  careless  practices  of  their  tenants. 
But  experience  also  has  shown  that  this  fear  is  not  well 
founded ;  that  the  number  of  tenants  who  wilfully  waste 
water  is  not  large ;  and  that,  where  the  landlord  complies 
with  the  ordinances  of  the  City  requiring  plumbing  to  be 
kept  in  repair,  he  has  no  reason  for  apprehending  that 
the  installation  of  a  meter  will  penalize  him.  In  many 
cases  the  landlord  would  save  money  by  having  a  meter 
installed,  and  the  City  officials  report  that  the  owners  of 
small  apartment  buildings  who  are  cognizant  of  this  fact 
frequently  request  meters  for  buildings  which  under  the 
ordinances  are  not  required  to  be  metered. 

Universal  Metering  Recommended 

The  Bureau  recommends  that  the  City  authorities  at 
once  establish  universal  metering  as  a  policy,  and  that 
they  take  the  necessary  steps  to  put  it  completely  into 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  25 

effect  during  the  next  ten  years.  It  is  important  to 
adopt  a  policy  of  universal  metering  and  to  preserve  its 
continuity,  because  until  such  a  policy  is  definitely  estab- 
lished water  works  officials  will  be  obliged  to  continue  con- 
structing additions  to  the  plant  to  meet  waste  conditions 
which  will  have  to  be  faced  in  the  future. 

The  meters  should  be  owned  by  the  City  and  should  be 
installed  and  maintained  free  of  expense  to  consumers. 

The  Bureau  believes  that  in  putting  universal  metering 
into  effect  the  meter  rate  of  6£  cents  per  thousand  gal- 
lons, which  is  now  charged,  should  be  retained  for  the 
present,  and  that  reasonable  minimum  rates  should  be 
established.  This  will  result  advantageously  to  thou- 
sands of  small  property  owners  and  will  not  materially 
impair  the  water  revenue.  By  minimum  rates  is  meant 
that  owners  or  consumers  should  be  required  to  pay  for 
a  certain  amount  of  water  whether  or  not  they  use  it.  For 
all  water  used  in  excess  of  the  quantity  which  the  mini- 
mum charge  will  purchase,  they  will  then  pay  at  the  usual 
rate.  Such  minimum  rates  should  be  substantially  lower 
than  the  present  rates,  so  that  consumers,  if  they  are  care- 
ful to  avoid  waste  and  leakage,  can  save  money  without  in 
any  way  using  less  water  than  they  are  now  accustomed 
to  use.  Again,  they  should  be  high  enough  to  encourage 
the  use  of  all  the  water  which  health  and  comfort  call  for, 
by  requiring  consumers  to  pay  for  all  the  water  that  they 
need  whether  they  actually  use  it  or  not. 

The  Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Universal  Metering 

The  improved  service  which  will  result  from  universal 
metering,  supplemented  by  the  repair  and  rehabilitation 
of  the  distribution  system,  will  be  the  important  primary 
benefit.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  metering 
will  be  profitable  as  a  business  proposition. 


26  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

If  waste  and  leakage  are  brought  under  effective  con- 
trol during  the  next  ten  years,  the  pumpage  of  the  Chi- 
cago Water  Works  can  be  reduced  to  425,000,000  gallons 
per  day  by  1928,  as  compared  with  645,000,000  gallons 
per  day  in  1916 ;  and  further,  the  daily  pumpage  can  be 
kept  considerably  below  the  1916  figure  as  late  as  1950. 

This  reduction  in  pumpage  will  make  possible  an  im- 
mense saving  in  expenditures  for  water  works  plant.  It 
will  mean  that  additional  tunnels,  cribs,  and  pumping 
stations  will  not  be  needed  for  thirty-three  years.  The 
reduced  pumpage  will  also  effect  very  large  savings  in 
operating  and  maintenance  costs. 

The  Bureau  estimates  that  the  saving  in  interest  and 
depreciation  charges,  which  can  be  effected  during  the 
next  thirty-three  years  by  reducing  the  necessity  for  capi- 
tal outlays  for  new  pumping  stations,  cribs,  tunnels,  and 
other  equipment,  will  aggregate  $66,000,000,  and  that  the 
further  saving  which  can  be  effected  in  operating  costs 
during  that  time  will  be  $69,000,000.  Thus  the  total  sav- 
ing which  will  result  from  universal  metering  will  aggre- 
gate $135,000,000  between  now  and  1950.  The  savings 
estimated  are  net,  deductions  having  been  made  both  for 
the  cost  of  installing  and  for  reading  and  maintaining  the 
meters. 

The  cost  of  installing  meters  will  aggregate  approxi- 
mately $9,000,000  during  the  first  ten  years  and  $200,- 
000  per  year  thereafter.  The  annual  cost  of  reading  and 
repairing  meters  will  average  approximately  $290,000 
per  year  for  the  first  ten  years  and  $575,000  per  year 
thereafter. 

The  following  table  shows  also  the  estimated  savings 
which  can  be  effected  for  periods  of  ten  and  twenty  years. 
It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  first  ten  years  not  only  will 
universal  metering  save  $7,600,000  but  that  under  it  the 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


27 


estimated  amount  of  capital  necessary  for  investment  in 
plant  will  be  $15,000,000  less  than  will  be  required  if  pre- 
sent conditions  of  waste  continue.  This  difference  of 
$15,000,000  in  capital  outlay  is  net,  allowance  having  been 
made  for  the  entire  cost  of  installing  the  meters. 


Table  Showing  Estimated  Additional  Capital  Which  Will  Be  Required 

to  Construct  Water  Works  Plant  If  Universal  Metering  Is 

Not  Adopted;  also  Estimated  Saving  Which  Can 

Be  Effected  by  Universal  Metering  During 

Different  Periods  Beginning  in  1918 


10  Years 

20  Years 

33  Years 

Additional  Capital  to  be  Required  in 
Absence  of  Universal  Metering  .... 

$14,950,000 

$46,850,000 

$94,000,000 

Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Universal 
Metering  — 
Interest  at  4%  

$2,830,000 

$15,390,000 

$53,000,000 

Depreciation  at  1%  

710,000 

3,850,000 

13,000,000 

Ordinary  Operating  and  Main- 
tenance Charges  

4,060,000 

22,660,000 

69,000,000 

Total  Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Uni- 
versal Metering  During  Respective 
Periods.*  

$7,600,000 

$41,900,000 

$135,000,000 

*No  attempt  has  been  made  to  estimate  the  further  saving  to  be  effected  by  avoiding  the  loss 
which  will  result  after  the  expiration  of  the  respective  periods  from  the  destruction  or  deferred 
use  of  the  additional  capital  which  will  have  to  be  invested  if  universal  metering  is  not  adopted. 
See  pages  202-3.) 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  EXISTING  CONDITIONS 

The  City  Engineer  and  other  administrative  officials 
for  more  than  fifteen  years  have  been  urging  the  City 
Council  to  authorize  metering  as  the  only  means  by  which 
permanent  relief  from  waste  and  leakage,  and  the  result- 
ant inefficient  service  and  financial  loss,  can  be  obtained. 
The  Mayor  and  the  Aldermen,  however,  have  thus  far 


28  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

failed  to  support  these  appeals  in  anything  like  an  ade- 
quate way. 

The  public  also  is  quite  generally  either  apathetic 
or  antagonistic  to  the  idea  of  metering.  This  is  because 
the  public,  for  the  most  part,  is  not  acquainted  with  the 
facts  concerning  the  effect  of  meters  both  upon  the  use 
of  water  and  upon  water  bills.  Experience  shows  that  a 
meter  will  neither  increase  the  water  bill  of  the  ordinary 
householder  nor  restrict  him  in  his  customary  use  of 
water  and  that  meters  produce  results  entirely  by  elim- 
inating waste  and  leakage,  thus  obviating  the  necessity 
for  providing  equipment  with  which  to  pump  and  dis- 
tribute an  enormous  volume  of  water  that  serves  no  use- 
ful purpose. 

The  City  Council  should  recognize  this  state  of  affairs 
and  should  accept  the  responsibility  for  remedying  the 
existing  situation  by  initiating  and  carrying  out  a  pro- 
gram for  universal  metering.  In  this  undertaking,  the 
Council  should  have  the  earnest  and  active  support  of 
every  householder,  tenant,  and  property  owner  in  the 
City. 


RESERVOIR  THAT  WOULD  BE  REQUIRED  TO  HOLD 
ONE  DAY'S  PUMPAGE 

The  average  amount  of  water  pumped  every  day  in  Chicago  would  fill 
a  reservoir  three  and  one-half  times  the  size  of  the  City  Hall  and  County 
Building  combined.  This  is  more  water  than  is  supplied  by  any  other 
water  works  system  in  the  world. 


THE  WATER  WORKS  SYSTEM 

of  the 

CITY  OF  CHICAGO 


The  Chicago  Water  Works  pumps  more  than  six  hun- 
dred million  gallons  of  water  daily.  This  is  more  water 
than  is  supplied  by  any  other  water  works  system  in  the 
world. 

The  quantity  of  water  pumped  each  day  would  fill  a 
reservoir  three  and  one-half  times  the  size  of  the  City 
Hall  and  County  Building  combined.  The  City's  water 
mains  if  placed  end  to  end  would  extend  from  Portland, 
Maine,  to  Salt  Lake  City — four-fifths  of  the  distance 
across  the  country.  These  comparisons  help  to  visualize 
both  the  vastness  of  the  service  rendered  by  this  munici- 
pally owned  and  operated  utility  and  the  enormous  extent 
of  the  system  itself. 

I.    GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PLANT 

Lake  Michigan  is  the  only  source  of  supply.  The 
water  flows  by  gravity  through  tunnels  from  intake  cribs, 
located  from  two  to  four  miles  off  the  lake  shore,  to 
pumping  stations  where  it  is  forced  into  the  distribu- 
tion mains  by  the  pumps. 

There  are  six  intake  cribs  and  approximately  50  miles 
of  lake  and  land  tunnels  varying  in  diameter  from  five 
feet  to  fourteen  feet.  The  total  capacity  of  these  tunnels 
under  normal  conditions  is  approximately  1,117,000,000 
gallons  per  twenty-four  hours. 


32 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


Table  Showing  Dimensions  of  Chicago  Water  Tunnels;  also  Names  of  Intake 

Cribs,  Normal  Capacities  of  Tunnels,  and  Year  When  Each 

Was  Put  Into  Service 


Name  of  Tunnel 

Year 
Put 
Into 
Service 

Diameter 
in  Feet 

Length 
in  Miles 

i 

Approximate 
Capacity 
under  Normal 
Conditions 
Gals,  per  24  Hrs.* 

Intake  Crib 

Chicago  Avenue  5  foot 
Lake  Tunnel  

1867 

5 

2.  or 

North  Shore  Extension 
Tunnel  

1896 

7 

2.01 

Chicago  Avenue  Pump- 
ing Station  Tunnels.  . 

Chicago  Avenue  Exten- 
sion Tunnel  

1900 

f5 
6 

17 
f5 

.28J 
.30 

126,500,000 

** 

Two-Mile 
Crib 

Lake  Extension  —  Cross- 
Town  Tunnel  

1875 

6 
17 

7 

2.05' 

Blue  Island  Av.  Tunnel. 

Lake    Extension  —  Blue 
Island   Connecting 
Tunnel  

1909 
1913 

f6 
7 

18 
8 

5.60 
.23 

90,500,000 

Two-Mile 
Crib 

Four-Mile  Lake  Tunnel 

Fourteenth  Street  Sta- 
tion Tunnels  

1892 
1892 

(6 
18 

/  6 

6.62^ 
.50 

Polk  Street  Tunnel.  .  .  . 

Lake  View  Tunnel  .... 

Sixty-eighth     Street 
Tunnel.  .  .   . 

1907 
1896 
1894 

18 

{76 

(56 
/  5 

1.71 
2.03 
3  91 

125,000,000 

75,000,000 
100,000,000 

Four-Mile 
Crib 

Lake  View 
Crib 

Sixty-eighth 

Northeast     Lake     and 
Northwest  Land  Tun- 
nels   

1898 
1900 

\7 
/  8 

12.26 

200,000,000 

St.  Crib 
Carter  H. 

Southwest     Lake     and 
Land  Tunnels.  .  .  . 

1911 

do 

f  9 

10  ir 

Harrison  Crib 

Sixty-eighth    St.    Con- 
necting Tunnel  

1916 

12 
114 

/  6 

.58 

400,000,000 

Edward  F. 
Dunne  Crib 

\8 

Total  

50.2 

1,117,000,000 

*  Based  upon  estimates  of  City  Engineer  in  report  of  Nov.  16,  1911. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


33 


5 -a 


*j« 
J 


34 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


There  are  nine  large  pumping  stations,  housing  43 
pumps,  having  a  total  maximum  daily  rated  capacity 
of  948,000,000  gallons.  There  are  also  two  minor  stations 
— a  small  booster  station,  with  a  maximum  daily  rated 
capacity  of  7,000,000  gallons,  which  repumps  water  for 
the  high  level  territory  in  the  extreme  northwest  section 
of  the  City,  and  the  Rogers  Park  station  designed  for  use 
in  emergency  only  to  aid  in  supplying  the  Rogers  Park 
district. 

Table  Showing  the  Chicago  Water  Pumping  Stations;  the  Year  When  Built;  the 

Number  of  Pumps  Operated;  the  Maximum  Rated  Daily  Capacity;  the 

Greatest  Amount  Pumped  During  Any  One  Day  in  1916;  and 

the  Average  Daily  Pumpage  During  1916 


Name  of  Station 

Year 
When 
Built 

No.  of 
Pumps 

Maximum 
Rated  Daily 
Capacity 
in  Gallons 
Dec.  31,  1916 

Greatest  Amount 
Pumped  in  Any 
One  Day  During 
1916  (Gallons)* 

Arerage 
Daily 
Pumpage 
in  1916 
allo 

Chicago  Avenue  . 

1869 

5 

99,000,000 

91,377,800  (Jul.   28) 

74,324,890 

Twenty-second  St. 

1876 

6 

110,000,000 

102,008,300  (Dec.  21) 

79,951,557 

Harrison  Street  .  . 

1890 

3 

55,000,000 

47,454,649  (Aug.    5) 

34,557,623 

Fourteenth  Street. 
Lake  View  

1892 

1875  \ 
1909-15] 

5 
4 

100,000,000 
100,000,000 

89,962,700  (Apl.  18) 
80,372,850  (Aug.  21) 

78,473,333 
51,043,524 

Sixty-eighth  St.  .  . 

1882 

6 

134,000,000 

113,048,332  (Dec.  23) 

90,001,530 

Central  Park  Ave. 

1900 

5 

125,000,000 

103,361,730  (Aug.  31) 

86,482,295 

Springfield  Ave.  .  . 
Roseland.  .  .  . 

1901 
1912 

5 

t4 

125,000,000 
flOO.OOO.OOO 

111,980,350  (Aug.  21) 
96,701,580  (Aug.  19) 

88,730,573 
61,624,234 

Total  Nine  Major 
Stations  

1912 
1889 

43 

3 
2 

948,000,000 

7,000,000 
3,500,000 

5,740,000  (Aug.  7  & 
21) 
Not  in  Operation  in 
1916 

645,189,559 
3,441,584 

Jefferson     Park 
(Booster)  

Rogers  Park  **  .  . 
Grand  Total  All  S 

tations  .  . 

48 

958,500,000 

759,451,412  (Aug.  21) 
*** 

648,631,143 

*  Pumpage  by  plunger  displacement;  no  allowance  made  for  slippage. 
**  Operated  in  emergency  only. 

***  Not  a  total  of  this  column,  but  the  greatest  amount  of  water  pumped  on  any  one  day  by 
the  entire  plant. 

t  Two  5,000,000-gallon  booster  pumps  which  repump  water  for  high  level  tern torym  south- 
west section  of  city  not  included. 
NOTE — The  greatest  amount  of  water  pump«d  on  any  on*  day  during  1917  wa« 

772.1100.1)1)11  Onllnna  i.n  n«famhar  11. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  35 

While  the  aggregate  rated  capacity  of  the  pumps  at  the 
major  pumping  stations  as  shown  by  the  foregoing  table 
is  948,000,000  gallons,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
several  of  these  pumps  represent  reserve  equipment  and 
that  because  of  inadequate  tunnel  capacity  at  some  of  the 
stations  all  the  pumps  cannot  be  operated  to  full  capacity 
at  the  same  time.  The  actual  maximum  capacity  of  the 
plant  under  present  conditions  is  probably  about  800,000,- 
000  gallons  per  day. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  map  that  all  but 
one  of  the  earlier  stations  were  located  along  the  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan.  For  various  reasons  these  stations 
undoubtedly  would  have  been  differently  located  had  the 
entire  system  been  planned  at  one  time,  but  financial  and 
other  considerations  have  seemed  to  make  it  inexpedient 
to  change  their  locations.  It  will  be  noted,  however,  that 
in  recent  years  the  practice  has  been  to  locate  stations 
farther  inland,  near  the  center  of  the  district  which  they 
are  designed  to  serve.  This  reduces  the  distance  which 
the  water  has  to  be  pumped  and  thus  reduces  the  cost  of 
pumping. 

A  tenth  major  pumping  station — the  Mayfair  station, 
located  at  Wilson  and  North  Lamon  Avenues — is  now 
nearing  completion  and  still  another  station,  to  be  located 
in  the  vicinity  of  Sixty-first  Street  and  Western  Avenue, 
is  under  consideration. 

The  present  area  of  the  City  of  Chicago  is  200  square 
miles.  All  but  approximately  15  square  miles  of  this 
area  is  supplied  with  water  by  the  system  of  distribution 
mains  which  gridiron  the  City.  At  the  close  of  1916 
there  were  2757  miles  of  these  cast  iron  pipes  varying  in 
diameter  from  four  inches  to  forty-eight  inches.  The 
entire  system  is  interconnected,  except  those  parts  in  the 
northwest  and  southwest  sections  of  the  City  which  are 


36 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


supplied  by  the  Jefferson  Park  " booster"  station  and  the 
"booster"  pumps  of  the  Roseland  station,  respectively. 
(See  pages  49,  50.) 


Table  Showing  the  Length  in  Miles  of  the  Various 

Sizes  of  Water  Mains  in  Service  in  the  City  of 

Chicago  December  31, 1916 


Diameter 
in  Inches 

Length 
in  Miles 

Diameter 
in  Inches 

Length 
in  Miles 

3 

0.27 

16 

75.71 

4 

69.56 

18 

0.16 

6 

1270.24 

20 

10.01 

8 

878. 

24 

104.53 

10 

7.66 

30 

20.90 

12 

222.25 

36 

87.19 

14 

5.42 

42 

1.22 

48 

4.60 

i 

Total  

2,757.72 

There  are  approximately  300,000  active  service  pipes 
leading  from  the  distribution  mains  to  the  premises  of 
the  consumers.  About  7  per  cent  of  these  services  are 
metered. 


II.    THE  HISTORICAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE 
WATER  WORKS  SYSTEM 

The  Chicago  water  works  system  as  a  municipal  project 
had  its  beginning  in  1851  when  the  Legislature  empow- 
ered the  City  to  establish  its  own  water  works. 

The  City  of  Chicago  was  incorporated  in  1837,  but  it 
was  not  until  1842  that  any  attempt  was  made  to  operate  a 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  37 

water  works  plant.  In  that  year  the  Chicago  Hydraulic 
Company,  a  private  corporation,  undertook  to  furnish  a 
small  portion  of  the  City  with  water  by  means  of  a  25 
horse-power  pumping  engine  and  an  elevated  reservoir 
situated  at  Lake  Street  and  Michigan  Avenue.  The 
water  mains  were  logs  with  holes  bored  through  their 
centers.  Even  after  this  plant  began  to  operate,  a  large 
part  of  the  City  was  still  supplied  with  water  from  wells 
and  from  water  carts. 

PUMPING  STATIONS 

Chicago  Avenue  Station 

Shortly  after  the  City  had  acquired  the  right  to  estab- 
lish its  own  water  works,  it  took  over  the  equipment  of 
the  private  company  and  immediately  commenced  work 
upon  a  new  plant. 

A  pumping  station  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Chicago  Avenue  station  at  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Lincoln  Parkway  and  in  1853  a  new  pumping  engine  with 
a  daily  capacity  of  8,000,000  gallons  was  put  into  service. 
The  water  was  taken  from  Lake  Michigan  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  shore  and  was  distributed  through  three 
reservoirs  one  of  which  was  located  on  each  of  the  three 
sides  of  the  City. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  map,  the  original 
City  limits  were  extended  in  1847,  1853,  1863,  1869,  and 
1887,  respectively.  The  increased  demand  for  water  re- 
sulting from  the  annexation  of  new  territory  and  the 
rapid  growth  in  population  necessitated  new  pumping 
machinery  soon  after  the  first  pump  had  been  put  into 
operation. 

To  meet  this  and  subsequent  demands  for  water  arising 
from  the  recurrence  of  similar  conditions,  additional 


38 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


CHICAGO  AVENUE  PUMPING  STATION 
Chicago  Avenue  and  Lincoln  Parkway 

This  station  is  located  on  the  site  of  the  first  pumping  station  erected  by 
the  City.  The  original  station  was  built  in  1853.  The  present  station  building 
and  water  tower  were  finished  in  1869.  The  buildings  were  damaged  by  the 
great  Chicago  fire  of  1871,  but  were  restored  and  have  not  since  been  materially 
changed.  The  water  tower  is  no  longer  in  use,  but  is  preserved  as  a  landmark. 
The  station  contains  five  pumping  engines  having  a  total  capacity  of  99,000,000 
gallons  a  day. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  39 

pumping  engines  were  installed  from  time  to  time  at  this 
station  until  in  1887  it  had  a  maximum  capacity  of  99,000,- 
000  gallons  per  day. 

Meanwhile,  beginning  in  1864,  the  old  buildings  had 
been  gradually  demolished  and  a  new  station  and  water 
tower  built.  The  pumping  station,  which  was  completed 
in  1869,  was  damaged  by  the  great  Chicago  fire  of  1871, 
but  was  repaired  and  is  still  standing,  although  in  remod- 
elling the  plant  and  in  installing  new  engines  and  other 
equipment  it  has  been  necessary  from  time  to  time  to 
make  extensive  interior  alterations  and  also  to  erect 
some  additions  to  the  building.  The  water  tower  has  been 
preserved  as  a  landmark,  but  its  use  was  discontinued 
years  ago  and  the  standpipe  removed  in  1911. 

Two  pumping  engines  installed  in  1887,  each  having 
a  rated  capacity  of  12,000,000  gallons  per  day,  are  still  in 
service.  Beginning  in  1904,  however,  all  the  earlieir 
pumps  were  replaced  by  three  modern  pumping  engines 
each  having  a  rated  capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons  per 
day. 

Twenty-second  Street  Station 

With  the  extension  of  the  City  limits  west  to  Fortieth 
(Crawford)  Avenue  in  1869,  it  became  apparent  to  the 
City  authorities  that  a  pumping  station  must  be  located 
farther  inland  since  the  friction  in  the  pipes  due  to 
forcing  the  water  the  long  distance  from  the  pumping 
station,  located  on  the  lake  shore,  to  the  western  limits, 
was  so  great  that  the  pressure  was  nearly  all  lost  when 
the  water  reached  that  part  of  the  City.  Accordingly,  a 
second  pumping  station  was  erected  on  Ashland  Avenue 
south  of  Twenty-second  Street.  It  was  equipped  with 
two  pumping  engines  each  with  a  rated  capacity  of  15,- 
000,000  gallons  per  day,  which  were  first  put  into  opera- 


40  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

tion  in  November,  1876.  In  1884  two  new  engines,  each 
having  a  daily  capacity  of  15,000,000  gallons,  were  added 
to  the  equipment.  Three  of  these  engines  are  still  being 
operated  and  have  been  in  service  continuously  since  they 
were  installed.  One  of  the  1876  engines  has  been  recently 
removed,  preparatory  to  installing  two  new  electrically 
driven  centrifugal  pumps  of  25,000,000  gallons  capacity 
each. 

In  1912  two  electrically  driven  centrifugal  pumps,  each 
with  a  daily  capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons,  were  added  to 
the  equipment.  The  present  maximum  rated  capacity 
of  this  station  is  95,000,000  gallons  per  day. 


TWENTY-SECOND  STREET  PUMPING  STATION 
Ashland  Avenue,  south  of  Twenty-second  Street 

Chicago's  second  pumping  station,  erected  in  1876  and  enlarged  in  1884,  houses 
five  pumping  engines  having  a  total  capacity  of  95,000,000  gallons  a  day.  One  of 
these  pumps  has  been  in  service  continuously  since  1876;  two  were  erected  in  1884. 
The  remaining  two  which  are  electrically  driven  were  installed  in  1912.  This  station 
supplies  the  territory  lying  largely  between  Halsted  Street  and  Western  Avenue, 
south  of  Twelfth  Street,  including  the  Union  Stock  Yards. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


41 


Harrison  Street  Station 

By  1886  the  increasing  demand  for  water  necessitated 
the  construction  of  two  new  pumping  stations — the  Har- 
rison Street  station  and  the  Fourteenth  Street  station. 

The  former,  which  is  located  on  Harrison  Street  east  of 
Halsted  Street,  was  equipped  with  two  pumping  engines 
each  having  a  rated  capacity  of  15,000,000  gallons  per 


HARRISON  STREET  PUMPING  STATION 

Harrison  Street,  east  of  Halsted  Street 

Erected  in  1890.     The  capacity  of  its  three  pumping  engines  aggregates  55,000,000 

gallons  a  day. 

day.  These  pumps  were  put  into  operation  in  July,  1890, 
and  are  still  in  service.  During  1913  a  25,000,000  gallon 
steam-driven  centrifugal  pumping  engine  was  installed 
to  furnish  reserve  equipment.  Except  for  the  installa- 
tion of  this  additional  pump  and  new  boilers,  there  has 
been  but  little  change  in  the  equipment  of  this  station 
since  its  erection  in  1890. 


42  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Fourteenth  Street  Station 

The  Fourteenth  Street  station,  work  on  which  was  be- 
gun in  1888,  was  finally  put  in  service  in  December,  1892. 
At  that  time  it  was  equipped  with  three  pumping  engines, 
each  having  a  rated  capacity  of  15,000,000  gallons  per 
day.  In  1898  a  fourth  pumping  engine  with  a  capacity 
of  30,000,000  gallons  was  installed. 


FOURTEENTH  STREET  PUMPING  STATION 
Fourteenth  Street  and  Indiana  Avenue 

Erected  in  1892.  Contains  five  pumping  engines  having  a  total  capacity  of 
100,000,000  gallons  a  day.  This  station,  together  with  the  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Harrison  Street  stations,  supplies  the  "loop"  district  of  the  City. 

In  1913  a  25,000,000  gallon  steam  turbine  driven  cen- 
trifugal pump,  designed  primarily  to  furnish  reserve 
equipment,  was  installed  at  this  station.  Except  for  the 
installation  of  new  boilers  and  other  necessary  repairs 
and  replacements  and  also  some  rather  extensive  altera- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  43 

tions  to  the  building  and  auxiliary  equipment  which  were 
made  in  1913  and  1914,  the  installation  of  the  additional 
pumps  in  1898  and  1913  constitute  the  principal  changes 
in  this  station  since  its  erection. 

Further  Extension  of  the  City  Limits  in  1889 

The  area  of  the  City  of  Chicago  at  the  time  of  its  incor- 
poration in  1837  was  about  10^  square  miles.  The  several 
extensions  of  the  City  limits  between  that  date  and  June 
29, 1889,  had  increased  the  area  to  about  44  square  miles. 
On  this  latter  date  there  were  annexed  to  the  City  126 
square  miles  of  additional  territory.  This  additional 
territory  included  the  City  of  Lake  View,  the  Village  of 
Hyde  Park,  the  Town  of  Lake,  a  part  of  the  Town  of 
Jefferson,  and  a  part  of  the  Town  of  Cicero. 

Lake  View  Station 

At  the  time  of  its  annexation  in  1889,  the  City  of  Lake 
View  was  operating  a  pumping  station  which  was  located 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Lake  View  station  at  Montrose 
and  Clarendon  Avenues.  This  station  had  been  con- 
structed in  1875,  and  when  taken  over  by  Chicago  at  the 
time  of  annexation  its  pumps  had  a  total  rated  capacity 
of  19,500,000  gallons  per  day.  In  1892,  1897,  and  1909, 
additional  pumps  with  capacities  of  12,000,000  gallons, 
14,000,000  gallons,  and  25,000,000  gallons  per  day,  respec- 
tively, were  installed. 

The  installation  of  the  1909  pump  marked  the  beginning 
of  the  general  rehabilitation  of  this  station,  including  the 
erection  of  four  modern  pumping  engines,  each  with  a 
rated  capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons  per  day,  together  with 
a  new  boiler  house,  coal  storing  and  handling  equipment 
and  other  appurtenances.  The  work  of  reconstructing 
the  station  costing  approximately  $1,400,000  was  practi- 
cally completed  during  1915. 


44 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


LAKE  VIEW  PUMPING  STATION 
Montrose  and  Clarendon  Avenues 


This  station  is  located  on  the  site  of  the  original  water  works  of  the  City  of  Lake 
View,  erected  in  1875  and  acquired  by  Chicago  through  annexation  in  1889.  The 
present  station,  which  houses  four  modern  pumping  engines  having  a  total  capacity 
of  100,000,000  gallons  a  day,  was  constructed  between  1909  and  1915. 


Sixty-eighth  Street  Station 

At  the  time  of  their  annexation  to  Chicago  in  1889,  the 
Village  of  Hyde  Park  and  the  Town  of  Lake  were  each 
operating  a  station  on  the  present  site  of  the  Sixty-eighth 
Street  pumping  station  on  Sixty-eighth  Street,  a  short 
distance  west  of  South  Shore  Boulevard. 

The  Town  of  Lake  station  had  been  built  in  1873  and 
had  supplied  water  for  both  the  Town  of  Lake  and  the 
Village  of  Hyde  Park  until  1882  when  the  water  works  of 
these  two  municipalities  were  separated  and  Hyde  Park 
began  to  operate  its  own  plant.  Both  of  these  stations 
were  taken  over  by  the  City.  Following  annexation,  the 
Town  of  Lake  station  was  abandoned.  The  Hyde  Park 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


45 


station  was  enlarged  and  additional  pumping  equipment 
has  been  added  from  time  to  time.  The  existing  equip- 
ment has  a  rated  daily  capacity  of  134,000,000  gallons. 
The  present  plan  of  the  City  authorities  contemplates  the 
replacement,  within  the  next  few  years,  of  this  station 
(now  known  as  the  Sixty-eighth  Street  station)  by  a  new 
station  to  be  erected  at  Seventy-third  Street  and  Stony 
Island  Avenue.  Pending  the  construction  of  this  new 
station,  the  capacity  of  the  old  pumps  at  the  Sixty-eighth 
Street  station  has  been  reinforced  by  the  installation  of 
two  steam-driven  centrifugal  pumps,  each  with  a  daily 
capacity  of  30,000,000  gallons,  which  were  put  into  opera- 
tion in  the  fall  of  1916. 


SIXTY-EIGHTH  STREET  PUMPING  STATION 
Sixty-eighth  Street  and  Oglesby  Avenue 

Like  the  Lake  View  station,  this  station  was  acquired  by  annexation  in  1889. 
Originally  constructed  in  1882  by  the  Village  of  Hyde  Park,  it  was  enlarged  in  1891 
and  again  in  1905,  the  first  enlargement  being  to  accommodate  additional  equipment 
to  supply  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition.  The  capacity  of  the  present  station  is 
134,000.000  gallons  a  day. 


46  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Territory  Annexed  Since  1889 

Since  1889  approximately  30  square  miles  of  territory 
have  been  brought  within  the  City  limits.  The  several 
sections  annexed  from  time  to  time  are  shown  on  the 
map  opposite  page  37. 

In  1890  South  Englewood  and  the  Villages  of  Gano, 
Washington  Heights,  and  West  Boseland  were  brought 
into  the  City,  and  in  1891  the  Village  of  Fernwood  was 
added. 

In  1893  the  Villages  of  Rogers  Park,  West  Ridge,  and 
Norwood  Park  were  annexed. 

In  1895  a  small  part  of  the  township  of  Calumet  was 
added. 

In  1899  a  portion  of  the  township  of  Cicero,  including 
the  section  known  as  Austin,  was  annexed. 

There  were  no  further  annexations  until  November, 
1910,  when  the  Village  of  Edison  Park  became  a  part  of 
the  City.  The  more  recent  additions  are  Morgan  Park 
in  1914 ;  and  the  Village  of  Clearing,  a  part  of  the  town- 
ship of  Stickney,  and  small  sections  of  the  townships  of 
Evanston,  Niles,  and  Calumet  in  1915. 

The  last  territory  joined  to  the  City  consists  of  two 
small  areas,  aggregating  one  and  three-eighths  square 
miles,  which  were  annexed  on  November  6, 1917.  One  of 
these  sections,  which  is  a  half-mile  in  width,  lies  west  of 
Maynard  Avenue  and  extends  from  Bryn  Mawr  Avenue 
to  Irving  Park  Boulevard;  the  other,  comprising  three- 
eighths  of  a  square  mile,  lies  north  of  Sixty-fifth  Street, 
adjoining  the  former  Village  of  Clearing  on  the  west. 

Central  Park  Avenue  and  Springfield  Avenue  Stations 

It  was  thought  that  the  completion  of  the  Fourteenth 
Street  and  Harrison  Street  pumping  stations  in  1890-92, 
together  with  the  four-mile  tunnel  from  which  they  drew 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


47 


their  supply,  would  insure  an  abundant  quantity  of  water 
for  all  purposes  for  a  long  time  to  come,  but  within  three 
years  the  lack  of  water  in  various  sections  remote  from 
the  lake,  especially  on  the  west  and  northwest  sides  of 
the  City,  had  resulted  in  the  planning  of  two  new  pumping 
stations  and  another  tunnel.  One  of  these  stations — the 


CENTRAL  PARK  AVENUE  PUMPING  STATION 
Central  Park  Avenue  and  Fillmore  Street 

This  station  was  completed  and  put  into  service  in   1900.     The  total  capacity 
of  its  five  pumping  engines  is  125,000,000  gallons  a  day. 

Central  Park  Avenue  station — is  located  at  Central  Park 
Avenue  and  Fillmore  Street;  the  other — the  Springfield 
Avenue  station — is  located  at  Springfield  and  Blooming- 
dale  Avenues.  These  stations  are  substantially  counter- 
parts of  each  other.  They  were  completed  and  put  into 
operation  in  1900  and  1901,  respectively.  Each  was 
originally  equipped  with  three  pumping  engines  with  a 


48 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


total  daily  rated  capacity  of  60,000,000  gallons.  In  1907 
another  pumping  engine  with  a  daily  rated  capacity  of 
40,000,000  gallons  was  added  to  the  equipment  of  each 
station. 

In  1913  a  steam  turbine  driven  centrifugal  pump  with 
a  rated  capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons  per  day  was  in- 


SPRINGFIELD  AVENUE  PUMPING  STATION 
Springfield  and  Bloomingdale  Avenues 

This  station,  erected  at  the  same  time  as  the  Central  Park  Avenue  station,  is 
practically  a  counterpart  of  the  latter  as  to  equipment.  It  was  put  into  service  in 
1901. 

stalled  at  each  station.    These  latter  pumps  are  intended 
to  provide  reserve  equipment. 

Roseland  Station 

The  Roseland  pumping  station,  located  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fourth  Street  and  Stewart  Avenue,  is  the  only 
major  pumping  station  added  to  the  plant  since  1901.  This 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


49 


station  has  been  in  operation  since  1912.  It  supplies  the 
extreme  southern  and  southwestern  sections  of  the  City, 
which  were  formerly  supplied  by  the  Sixty-eighth  Street 
station. 

This  is  a  thoroughly  modern  station  with  a  maximum 
daily  rated  capacity  of  100,000,000  gallons.  Originally, 
two  pumping  engines,  each  with  a  maximum  daily  rated 
capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons,  were  installed,  but  in  1915 
two  additional  engines  of  similar  design  and  capacity 
were  put  into  operation. 

This  station  is  also  equipped  with  two  steam-driven 
centrifugal  booster  pumps,  each  with  a  capacity  of  5,000,- 
000  gallons  per  day.  Since  the  latter  part  of  1914  these 
booster  pumps  have  been  repumping  water  to  supply 


ROSELAND  PUMPING  STATION 
One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Street  and  Stewart  Avenue 

This  station,  which  has  been  in  operation  since  1912,  was  the  ninth  major  pump- 
ing station  to  be  erected.  Its  four  pumping  engines  have  a  total  daily  capacity  of 
100,000,000  gallons.  It  also  houses  two  booster  pumps  which  repump  the  water 
to  supply  the  high  level  area  in  the  Washington  Heights  district. 


50  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  high  level  district  adjacent  to,  and  formerly  supplied 
by,  the  Washington  Heights  station. 

Norwood  Park,  Edison  Park,  and  Jefferson  Park  Stations 

At  the  time  of  their  annexation  to  the  City,  the  Vil- 
lages of  Norwood  Park,  Edison  Park,  Rogers  Park,  Wash- 
ington Heights,  and  Morgan  Park  were  each  operating 
independent  water  works  plants.  Except  in  the  case  of 
Rogers  Park  where  the  water  was  taken  from  the  lake, 
the  water  supply  of  these  municipalities  was  drawn  from 
artesian  wells. 

The  City  continued  to  operate  the  Norwood  Park  and 
Edison  P;ark  stations  until  December,  1912,  when  the  ter- 
ritory which  they  supplied  was  added  to  the  system  of 
the  Jefferson  Park  station,  a  small  " booster"  station 
erected  during  that  year  to  supply  the  high  level  terri- 
tory in  the  northwest  section  of  the  City. 

Rogers  Park  Station 

The  Rogers  Park  station  was  owned  and  operated  by  a 
private  company  until  1907  when  it  was  taken  over  by  the 
City.  Besides  water  pumping  engines,  this  station  was 
also  equipped  with  air  compressors  which  were  operated 
in  connection  with  the  sewage  disposal  system.  The  City 
has  continued  to  operate  these  air  compressors.  The 
water  supply  pumps  were  also  operated  until  October, 
1914,  when  they  were  closed  down,  the  district  contiguous 
to  the  station  then  being  supplied  from  the  Lake  View 
station.  During  1916,  however,  a  new  electrically  driven 
centrifugal  pump  was  installed,  designed  for  use  as  occa- 
sion might  require  when  the  supply  provided  for  the  Rog- 
ers Park  district  by  the  Lake  View  station  was  inade- 
quate. Because  of  the  contaminated  condition  of  the 
lake  water  at  the  Rogers  Park  intake,  it  has  been  found 
impracticable  so  far  to  operate  this  pump. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  51 

Washington  Heights  Station 

The  Washington  Heights  pumping  station  was  con- 
tinued in  operation  until  October,  1914,  when  the  district 
which  it  had  been  supplying  was  transferred  to  the  pumps 
at  the  Roseland  pumping  station  above  described. 

Morgan  Park  Station 

The  Morgan  Park  pumping  station  was  abandoned  al- 
most immediately  after  its  acquisition  by  the  City.  The 
territory  which  it  had  supplied  was  temporarily  fur- 
nished with  service  from  the  Washington  Heights  pump- 
ing station,  and  since  the  abandonment  of  the  latter  has 
been  supplied  by  the  Roseland  station. 

TUNNELS  AND  CRIBS 
First  Water  Tunnel 

Soon  after  the  Chicago  Avenue  station  was  first 
operated  in  1853,  the  problem  of  supplying  not  only  a 
greater  quantity  but  a  better  quality  of  water  became 
urgent.  To  meet  the  situation,  it  was  finally  decided  to 
construct  a  five-foot  circular  tunnel  under  the  lake,  ex- 
tending in  a  northeasterly  direction  from  a  point  near  the 
Chicago  Avenue  station  to  an  intake  crib,  since  known  as 
the  Two-Mile  crib,  located  about  two  miles  offshore.  The 
work  was  undertaken  in  1864.  The  tunnel  was  completed 
and  put  into  service  in  March,  1867.  It  has  supplied 
water  for  the  pumps  at. the  Chicago  Avenue  station  con- 
tinuously since  that  date  and  is  still  in  service. 

Cross-Town  and  Blue  Island  Avenue  Tunnels 

To  supply  water  for  the  pumps  at  the  Twenty-second 
Street  station,  a  second  tunnel  was  constructed  in  1874. 
It  extended  from  the  Two-Mile  crib  to  the  shore  near  the 
Chicago  Avenue  station  and  thence  directly  southwest 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  53 

across  the  City  to  the  Twenty-second  Street  station.  Hence 
it  is  known  as  the  "Cross-Town  Tunnel."  It  was  con- 
structed largely  under  private  property  and  was  later 
found  to  be  an  obstruction  to  deep  building  foundations. 
For  that  reason  it  became  necessary  to  abandon  the  land 
portion  of  it  lying  southwest  of  the  Chicago  Avenue  sta- 
tion. 

The  Blue  Island  Avenue  tunnel,  which  is  located  entire- 
ly under  streets,  was  accordingly  constructed  to  supply 
the  Twenty-second  Street  station.  It  was  put  into  opera- 
tion in  1909.  It  draws  its  supply  of  water  from  the  Two- 
Mile  crib  through  the  lake  section  of  the  old  Cross-Town 
tunnel,  with  which  its  eastern  terminus  in  Delaware  Place 
was  connected  in  1913. 

North  Shore  Extension  Tunnel 

In  1887  the  first  section  of  the  third  or  North  Shore 
Extension  tunnel  was  constructed.  It  is  located  just 
north  of  the  original  five-foot  tunnel  and  at  first  extended 
only  1,500  feet  under  the  lake,  the  land  end  being  con- 
nected with  the  tunnel  system  of  the  Chicago  Avenue 
station.  It  was  designed  for  use  when  the  supply  at  the 
Two-Mile  crib  was  endangered  by  ice  or  otherwise. 

The  contamination  of  the  water  at  the  intake  shaft  of 
the  new  tunnel  was  such,  however,  that  it  proved  practi- 
cally useless  and  in  1891  it  was  extended  to  the  north  end 
of  the  Government  breakwater.  The  water  at  this  latter 
point  was  also  found  to  be  so  badly  contaminated  that  the 
tunnel  was  of  little  service,  and  in  1896  it  was  further 
extended  to  the  Two-Mile  crib. 

Four-Mile  and  Polk  Street  Tunnels 

By  1886  the  capacity  of  the  three  tunnels  previously 
constructed  to  supply  the  Chicago  Avenue  and  Twenty- 


54  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

second  Street  stations  had  been  reached.  A  new  system 
of  tunnels,  known  as  the  Four-Mile  and  Polk  Street  tun- 
nels, was  therefore  constructed  to  supply  the  pumps  of 
the  Harrison  Street  and  Fourteenth  Street  stations  then 
about  to  be  built.  The  lake  section  of  this  new  system 
extends  from  a  point  on  the  shore  near  Twelfth  Street 
east  four  miles  to  the  Four-Mile  crib.  One  branch  of  the 
land  section  extends  south  to  the  Fourteenth  Street  sta- 
tion. Another  branch  extends  north  to  Eighth  Street  and 
as  originally  constructed  extended  thence  directly  north- 
west to  Desplaines  Street  and  from  there  to  the  Harrison 
Street  station.  Like  the  Cross-Town  tunnel,  this  "old 
Polk  Street"  tunnel  was  located  largely  under  private 
property  and  was  later  found  to  interfere  with  deep 
building  foundations.  Accordingly,  a  new  Polk  Street 
tunnel  which  follows  the  street  lines  was  constructed  in 
1907,  after  which  the  portion  of  the  old  tunnel  between 
Eighth  Street  and  Jefferson  Street  was  abandoned.  The 
new  tunnel  is  interconnected  with  the  Blue  Island  Avenue 
tunnel  by  a  tunnel  in  Jefferson  and  Van  Buren  Streets. 

Lake  View  Tunnel 

At  the  time  of  its  annexation  in  1889,  Lake  View  had 
commenced  the  construction  of  a  lake  tunnel  which  was 
subsequently  completed  by  the  City.  It  is  six  feet  in 
diameter  and  extends  from  the  Lake  View  station  east- 
ward about  two  miles  to  the  Lake  View  crib.  It  is  planned 
to  connect  this  tunnel  with  the  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel 
now  under  construction.  When  this  connection  has  been 
made  the  Lake  View  crib  will  be  abandoned  and  the 
water  for  both  tunnels  will  be  drawn  through  the  intakes 
of  the  new  Wilson  Avenue  crib. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  55 

Sixty-eighth  Street  Tunnels 

In  1884-85  the  Village  of  Hyde  Park  had  constructed 
a  tunnel  six  feet  in  diameter,  extending  out  into  the  lake 
about  5,000  feet.  This  tunnel  was  taken  over  by  the  City 
at  the  time  of  annexation.  Subsequently  a  five-foot  tun- 
nel was  constructed  to  the  south  of  the  old  tunnel  extend- 
ing out  under  the  lake  a  distance  of  about  a  mile,  from 
which  point  a  seven-foot  tunnel  was  constructed  out 
another  mile  terminating  at  the  present  Sixty-eighth 
Street  crib.  This  new  tunnel  was  completed  in  1894.  Be- 
ginning in  1896  a  tunnel  seven  feet  in  diameter  was  con- 
structed to  the  north  of  the  old  six-foot  tunnel  from  a 
point  near  the  shore  to  the  point  of  connection  between 
the  five-foot  and  seven-foot  tunnels  completed  in  1894. 
This  new  seven-foot  tunnel  was  completed  during  the 
summer  of  1898.  The  old  six-foot  tunnel  was  then  aban- 
doned and  has  not  since  been  in  use. 

Northwest  Land  and  Lake  Tunnel 

The  Northwest  Land  and  Lake  tunnel  system  was  com- 
pleted in  1900.  It  was  constructed  to  supply  the  pumps 
at  the  Central  Park  Avenue  and  Springfield  Avenue  sta- 
tions. The  main  section  which  is  ten  feet  in  diameter 
extends  from  the  Carter  H.  Harrison  crib,  located  ap- 
proximately three  miles  east  of  the  lake  shore  at  North 
Avenue,  southwest  to  Green  Street  and  Grand  Avenue. 
From  this  latter  point  one  branch  eight  feet  in  diameter 
extends  southwest  to  the  Central  Park  Avenue  station; 
the  other  branch  also  eight  feet  in  diameter  extends 
northwest  to  the  Springfield  Avenue  station. 

Southwest  Land  Tunnel 

The  Southwest  Land  and  Lake  tunnel  which  was  com- 
pleted in  1911  has  a  capacity  of  400,000,000  gallons  and 


56  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


EDWARD  F.  DUNNE  CRIB 

Interior  view  showing  the  crib  well  and  the  two  intake  shafts  through 
which  the  water  flows  to  the  Southwest  Land  and  Lake  tunnel,  146  feet 
below. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  AN  INTAKE  CRIB 

A  crib  is  a  timber  or  steel  structure,  usually  a  hollow  cylinder  in  form, 
which  is  placed  upon  the  bed  of  the  lake  and  extends  upward  to  above 
the  water  line.  The  space  between  the  external  and  internal  walls  is 
usually  filled  with  stone  or  concrete  which  holds  the  structure  in  place 
upon  the  bed  of  the  lake.  The  area  enclosed  by  the  structure  is  known 
as  the  crib  well.  The  purpose  of  the  crib  is  to  protect  the  vertical  shaft 
or  shafts  which  are  located  within  the  crib  well  and  extend  downward 
to  the  tunnel  beneath  the  bed  of  the  lake.  The  water  enters  the  crib 
well  through  portholes  in  the  side  of  the  structure,  and  flows  thence 
through  the  vertical  intake  shafts  and  the  tunnel  to  the  pumping  station. 
The  crib  well  is  covered  over  and  protected  by  a  superstructure  which 
usually  contains  living  quarters  for  the  crib  keepers.  (See  diagram, 
page  33.) 

The  external  diameter  of  the  Edward  F.  Dunne  crib  which  is  sunk 
in  32  feet  of  water  is  110  feet  at  the  water  line;  the  distance  between 
the  external  and  internal  walls  of  the  structure  is  25  feet.  The  crib 
well  is  60  feet  in  diameter.  The  two  intake  shafts  are  each  14  feet  in 
diameter.  No  quarters  for  the  crib  keepers  are  provided  on  this  crib 
which  is  located  45  feet  south  of  the  Sixty-eighth  Street  crib  to  which  it 
is  connected  by  a  bridge  for  maintenance  purposes. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  57 

was  designed  to  supply  the  Roseland  pumping  station  and 
also  two  other  stations;  one,  the  station  now  under  con- 
sideration, to  be  located  near  Sixty-first  Street  and  West- 
ern Avenue ;  the  other,  contemplated  at  some  future  time, 
to  be  located  near  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-sixth  Street 
and  Yates  Avenue.  A  connection  with  the  Sixty-eighth 
Street  station  was  also  provided  for  and  was  completed 
in  1916. 

This  tunnel  terminates  at  the  Edward  F.  Dunne  crib, 
located  immediately  south  of  the  Sixty-eighth  Street 
crib,  to  which  it  is  connected  by  a  bridge  for  maintenance 
purposes.  From  the  crib  the  lake  section  which  is  four- 
teen feet  in  diameter  extends  southwest  to  Seventy-third 
Street  and  Yates  Avenue;  thence  a  twelve-foot  branch 
extends  west  in  Seventy-third  Street  to  State  Street. 
From  Seventy-third  and  State  Streets  a  nine-foot  branch 
extends  south  to  the  Roseland  station.  Stub  tunnels  were 
also  constructed  in  Yates  Avenue  at  Seventy-third  Street 
and  in  Seventy-third  Street  at  State  Street  for  use  in  con- 
nection with  future  extensions. 


FURTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED 
OR  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION 

Definite  plans  for  further  extensions  of  the  present 
system  within  the  next  few  years  include  the  completion 
of  the  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel  and  the  Mayfair  pumping 
station,  which  are  now  under  construction;  an  extension 
of  the  Southwest  Land  tunnel  to  a  new  station  to  be 
located  near  Sixty-first  Street  and  Western  Avenue ;  the 
replacement  of  the  present  Sixty-eighth  Street  station 
with  a  new  station  at  Seventy-third  Street  and  Stony 
Island  Avenue ;  and  the  replacement  of  the  two  1887 
pumps  at  the  Chicago  Avenue  station  and  of  the  four  old 


58  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

pumps  at  the  Twenty-second  Street  station  with  modern 
centrifugal  pumps. 

In  a  paper  read  recently  before  the  American  Associa- 
tion of  Engineers,  Mr.  John  Ericson,  the  City  Engineer, 
expressed  the  opinion  that,  in  addition  to  the  improve- 
ments above  mentioned  and  in  addition  also  to  more  and 
greater  water  mains,  it  will  be  necessary  within  the  next 
twenty  years  (1)  to  build  four  other  major  pumping 
stations  with  tunnels  to  supply  them;  (2)  to  increase  the 
daily  capacities  of  the  present  Chicago  Avenue,  Harrison 
Street,  and  Central  Park  Avenue  stations  50,000,000  gal- 
lons each;  and  (3)  to  construct  a  tunnel  in  the  vicinity  of 
Twelfth  Street  to  reinforce  the  existing  tunnel  system. 

The  improvements  mentioned  in  the  last  two  para- 
graphs if  carried  out  will  practically  double  the  capacity 
of  the  present  plant. 

May  fair  Station  and  Wilson  Avenue  Tunnel 

The  Mayfair  station  and  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel  which 
are  now  under  construction  will  supply  the  northwestern 
section  of  the  City.  The  station,  which  is  located  at  Wil- 
son and  North  Lamon  Avenues,  is  designed  for  an  ulti- 
mate capacity  of  152,500,000  gallons  per  day.  Four  pumps 
will  have  a  capacity  of  25,000,000  gallons  each  and  three 
pumps  a  capacity  of  17,500,000  gallons  each.  The  latter 
will  be  high  pressure  pumps  and  will  supply  the  high 
level  district  now  supplied  by  the  Jefferson  Park  booster 
station.  Three  of  the  larger  pumps  and  two  of  the  high 
pressure  pumps  are  now  under  construction  and  will 
probably  be  placed  in  service  early  in  1918,  thus  adding 
110,000,000  gallons  per  day  to  the  capacity  of  the  plant. 
The  remaining  two  pumps  will  be  added  to  the  equipment 
when  an  increased  demand  for  water  makes  them  neces- 
sary. 

The  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel  which  will  supply  this  sta- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  59 

tion  extends  from  the  new  Wilson  Avenue  crib,  located 
about  three  miles  off  the  lake  shore,  directly  west  under 
the  line  of  Wilson  Avenue  to  the  station.  It  will  have  a 
normal  capacity  of  350,000,000  gallons  per  day.  Its  total 
length  is  approximately  eight  miles.  From  the  crib  west 
for  a  distance  of  about  one  mile  the  diameter  of  the  tun- 
nel is  thirteen  feet;  beyond  this  point  the  diameter  is 
twelve  feet.  The  entire  excavation  is  in  solid  rock. 

The  thirteen-foot  section  is  to  be  connected  with  the 
present  Lake  View  tunnel  at  the  Lake  View  crib  after 
which  the  use  of  this  crib  will  be  discontinued.  A  con- 
%necting  tunnel  has  also  been  constructed  under  Clarendon 
Avenue  from  Wilson  Avenue  to  the  Lake  View  station. 
When  put  into  service,  this  connecting  tunnel  will  rein- 
force the  supply  from  the  present  Lake  View  tunnel 
which  is  inadequate  for  all  the  pumps  at  the  Lake  View 
station. 


III.    WATER  WORKS  FINANCES 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  WATER  WORKS  PLANT 

The  aggregate  original  cost  of  the  component  parts  of 
the  water  works  plant  December  31, 1916,  as  reported  by 
the  Department  of  Public  Works,  was  $70,773,556.  The 
reported  value  as  distinguished  from  the  reported  cost 
was  $60,550,503.  This  value  is  based  upon  certain  allow- 
ances for  appreciation  on  real  estate  and  upon  certain 
deductions  for  estimated  depreciation  on  equipment,  in- 
cluding deductions  on  account  of  equipment  removed 
from  service. 

The  actual  value  of  the  City's  investment,  if  account  be 
taken  of  the  cost  of  reproducing  the  plant  under  condi- 
tions such  as  existed  just  prior  to  the  war,  and  of  the 


60  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

numerous  items  which  are  properly  a  part  of  the  cost  of 
the  plant  as  a  whole  but  which  are  not  included  in  the 
reported  figures,  is  probably  somewhat  greater  than 
either  of  the  above  amounts.  Mr.  John  W.  Alvord  esti- 
mates this  actual  value  at  not  far  from  $85,000,000. 

The  cost  of  the  plant  has  been  increasing  rapidly 
during  recent  years.  At  the  close  of  1901  after  the  water 
works  had  been  in  operation  50  years  the  original  cost 
amounted  to  about  $34,000,000.  At  the  close  of  1916  it 
was  about  $70,000,000.  Four-fifths  of  this  increase  has 
occurred  within  the  last  decade,  and,  as  hereafter  ex- 
plained, is  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  City  officials  to 
cope  with  the  waste  problem  by  constantly  providing 
additional  pumps  and  other  equipment. 

The  following  table  shows  the  amounts  invested  in  the 
water  works  plant  from  year  to  year  during  the  past 
15  years ;  also  the  aggregate  original  cost  of  the  plant  at 
the  close  of  each  year. 

Table  Showing  the  Annual   Investments  in  the  Plant  of  the  Chicago  Water 

Works  and  the  Aggregate  Original  Cost  of  the  Plant  at  the  Close 

of  Each  Year  for  the  Period  1902  to  1916 

Original  Cost 
Year       Annual  Investment       at  Close  of  Year 

1902  $1,626,873        $35,687,949 

1903  1,666,974        37,354,923 

1904  1,387,111        38,742,034 

1905  357,222        39,099,256 

1906  3,060,187  42,159,443 

1907  3,839,640  45,999,083 

1908  3,447,697  49,446,780 

1909  1,769,922  51,216,702 

1910  1,284,241  52,500,943 

1911  1,816,976  54,317,919 

1912  2,454,512  56,772,431 

1913  2,248,040  59,020,471 

1914  2,655,564  61,676,035 

1915  4,811,405  66,487,440 

1916  4,286,116  70,773,556 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  61 


HOW  THE  COST  OF  THE  PLANT  HAS  BEEN  FINANCED 

The  total  cost  of  the  plant,  aggregating  $70,773,556.12 
at  the  close  of  1916,  has  been  paid  as  follows  :* 

Water  Revenue — 

From  the  revenue  of  the  water  fund  di- 
rectly   $51,748,252.11 

From  the  proceeds  of  water  certificates, 
subsequently  redeemed  from  water 
revenue  7,916,000.00 

From  the  proceeds  of  bonds,  subsequently 
redeemed  from  water  revenue 3,447,900.00 

General  Taxes — 

From  general  taxes  directly 2,713,878.53 

From  the  proceeds  of  bonds,  subsequently 

redeemed  by  levying  general  taxes  . . .     2,628,400.00 

Proceeds  of  Bonds  Still  Outstanding — 
From  the  proceeds  of  general  corporate 

bonds  issued  in  1908 851,200.00 

From  the  proceeds  of  water  loan  bonds 

(refunded  in  1915)   1,270,400.00 

Paid  by  communities  subsequently  annexed 
to  the  city 197,525.48 


Total  $70,773,556.12 

The  item  of  $2,713,878.53  shown  above  was  expended 
from  general  taxes  early  in  the  development  of  the  prop- 
erty. No  general  taxes  have  been  used  directly  for  water 
works  purposes  for  many  years.  Likewise,  many  years 
ago  $5,000  raised  by  general  taxation  was  applied  to  the 
redemption  of  water  loan  bonds.  Except  for  these  two 
items,  prior  to  1907  the  plant  was  financed  entirely  from 
water  revenue  and  from  the  proceeds  of  water  loan  bonds 
and  water  certificates  which,  so  far  as  they  had  matured 
at  that  date,  had  been  redeemed  from  water  revenue. 

"Compiled  from  the  published  reports  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lie  Works. 


62  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Since  the  close  of  1906,  however,  a  different  policy  has 
prevailed  as  to  bond  redemptions.  Except  for  $225,000 
paid  from  revenue  in  1909,  and  $500,000  paid  from  the 
same  source  in  1913  to  redeem  a  short-time  issue  for  that 
amount  which  had  been  put  out  in  1910,  all  bond  redemp- 
tions since  1906  have  been  made  by  levying  a  direct  gen- 
eral property  tax  for  that  purpose.  The  sum  of  $2,623,400 
has  been  thus  raised  and  applied  during  the  past  ten 
years.  At  the  close  of  1916,  there  were  still  outstanding 
bonds  amounting  to  $2,121,600,  the  proceeds  of  which  had 
been  used  for  water  works  purposes  and  which  under 
the  policy  now  prevailing  are  being  redeemed  from  year 
to  year  with  general  tax  moneys. 

Interest  on  these  bonds  is  also  being  paid  out  of  gen- 
eral taxes.  Prior  to  1913,  all  payments  of  interest  were 
made  from  the  water  fund,  but  since  that  time  such  pay- 
ments have  been  made  from  taxes.  During  the  four  years 
ended  December  31,  1916,  general  taxes  amounting  to 
$355,896  were  levied  and  applied  to  the  payment  of  bond 
interest. 

Water  works  bonds,  like  other  municipal  bonds,  create 
a  liability  against  the  City  which  must  be  met  by  general 
taxation  unless  the  City  Council  makes  provision  for 
their  payment  from  water  revenue.  Taxes  for  the  pay- 
ment of  both  principal  and  interest  on  such  bonds  are  not 
included  within  the  limitations  placed  by  law  upon  tax 
levies  for  general  corporate  purposes,  but  must  be  levied 
in  addition  to  all  other  taxes.  Levying  taxes  for  the 
payment  of  bond  principal  and  interest,  therefore,  pro- 
duces more  revenue  for  water  works  purposes  without 
curtailing  in  any  way  the  City's  revenue  for  other  pur- 
poses, and  without  giving  rise  to  the  embarrassments 
which  would  attend  an  increase  in  water  rates.  This  policy 
might  be  defended  if  the  water  fund  were  being  used 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  63 

only  for  water  purposes  and  were  inadequate  for  those 
purposes  and  could  not  be  increased  without  real  and 
valid  objections.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  More- 
over, levying  taxes  for  the  payment  of  bond  principal 
and  interest  affords  an  easy  way  to  relieve  the  water  fund 
of  its  legitimate  obligations  and  thus  to  make  it  possible 
for  the  City  Council  to  divert  water  revenue  to  other  uses. 
In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  marked  increase  in  the 
tendency  to  use  the  water  fund  for  other  purposes,  not- 
withstanding the  questionable  legality  of  some  of  the 
expenditures  made.  Diverting  the  water  fund  to  general 
corporate  purposes  and  then  levying  a  tax  with  which  to 
pay  water  works  obligations  is  an  indirect  way  of  levying 
additional  taxes  for  general  corporate  purposes,  a  thing 
which  under  existing  laws  could  not  be  done  directly. 
This  practice  deserves  severe  condemnation. 

The  occasion  for  resorting  to  general  taxation  to  re- 
deem water  works  bonds  results  in  part  from  this  prac- 
tice of  diverting  water  revenue  to  other  uses  and  in  part 
from  the  enormous  expenditures  which  have  been  made 
for  additional  equipment  needed  to  meet  the  constantly 
increasing  demand  for  more  water  due  to  waste  and  leak- 
age. 


64  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

THE  FINANCIAL  STATUS  OF  THE  WATER  WORKS  BUSINESS 

The  financial  status  of  the  water  works  business  as 
shown  by  the  revenue,  expenditures,  and  capital  invest- 
ment for  the  past  three  years,  is  substantially  as  follows  :* 


1914 

1915 

1916 

Revenue  Received  (see  table  1,  p.  71.)  . 

$6,835,000 

$6,448,000t 

$6,796,000 

Ordinary  Operation  and  Maintenance 
(excludes  interest  on  bonds;  includes 
refunds)  (see  table  2,  p.  72.)  

$3,218,000 

$3,312,000 

$3,555,000 

Annual    Depreciation    on    Plant    and 
Property  Taken  Ordinarily  in  Water 
Works  @  1%  

610,000 

660,000 

700^000 

Total  Operation  and  Maintenance  .... 

$3,828,000 

$3,972,000 

$4,255,000 

Excess  of  Revenue  over  Expense  

$3,007,000 

$2,476,000 

$2,541,000 

Original  Investment  at  Close  of  Year. 

Rate  of  Inter-^ 
est  Return  on  I     Excess   of   Revenue 

$61,000,000 

$66,000,000 

$70,000,000 

Ungmal        in-l     Original  Investment 
vestment           J 

.0493 

.0375 

.0363 

No  revenue  is  derived  directly  from  the  City  and  other 
public  agencies  using  water  for  fire  protection  and  other 
public  purposes.  It  might  appear,  therefore,  that  in  the 
foregoing  table  a  credit  should  be  allowed  for  such  service 
in  addition  to  the  revenue  there  shown.  Of  course,  the 
cost  of  such  service  must  necessarily  be  paid  in  some  way 
and  is,  in  fact,  included  in  the  charges  made  to  private 
consumers  and  is  collected  from  them.  Accordingly,  no 
further  credit  is  shown  in  the  table. 

Likewise,  no  charge  has  been  included  in  the  table  for 
taxes  on  the  water  works  property.  For  the  purposes  of 
this  report,  the  inclusion  of  such  a  charge  would  have  no 

*  Compiled  from"  figures  published  in  annual  reports  of  Department  of  Public  Works, 
t  Decrease  due  to  reduction  in  rates  (see  pp.66-7.) 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  65 

real  significance.  Roughly  estimated,  the  value  of  the 
water  used  for  public  purposes  and  the  taxes  with  which 
the  plant  would  be  chargeable  are  about  the  same.  Under 
these  circumstances,  if  a  charge  for  taxes  were  in  fact 
made,  as  it  would  be  if  the  property  were  privately 
owned,  the  public  that  received  the  taxes  might  be  ex- 
pected to  pay  an  equivalent  amount  in  water  rates.  This 
operation  would  not  affect  the  actual  financial  status  of 
either  the  water  works  business  or  the  public.  The 
transactions  indicated,  if  carried  out,  would  add  the 
amount  of  taxes  paid  to  the  operating  expenses  and 
would  also  add  a  like  amount  to  the  revenue  received. 
This  would  not  change  the  interest  return  on  the  capital 
investment  which  is  the  significant  figure  in  the  table. 

The  surplus  earnings  (excess  of  revenue  over  expense) 
represent  the  return  on  the  public's  invested  capital.  To 
a  considerable  extent  the  public  could  profit  by  this  return 
through  lower  water  rates  were  it  not  for  the  fact,  as  will 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  table  on  page  72,  that  it  is 
being  continually  reinvested  in  extensions  of  the  plant. 
Many  of  these  extensions  would  not  be  necessary  but  for 
the  large  amount  of  waste  and  leakage  which  prevail. 
Thus  waste  and  leakage  are  depriving  the  community 
of  a  substantial  part  of  the  benefit  which  it  should  ob- 
tain through  its  ownership  of  the  water  works  system. 

WATER  RATES 

Chicago  sells  water  upon  the  so-called  "frontage"  or 
"assessed  rates"  plan,  and  also  upon  the  meter  plan. 
Where  the  assessment  plan  is  used  for  fixing  rates  the 
basic  charge  depends  upon  the  width  and  height  of  the 
building.  Additional  charges,  which  vary  with  the  width 
of  the  lot,  the  purpose  for  which  the  building  is  used,  the 
number  of  fixtures  therein,  and  other  conditions,  are  also 


66  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

made.  Where  premises  are  used  for  residence  purposes 
only,  there  is  no  charge  in  addition  to  the  basic  charge  for 
the  first  complete  set  of  sanitary  fixtures. 

Except  as  indicated  in  the  next  paragraph,  the  as- 
sessed rates  are  applicable  as  a  basis  for  determining 
charges  in  all  cases  where  the  net  assessment  (after  de- 
ducting the  discount  of  25  per  cent  allowed  for  prompt 
payment)  is  less  than  $30.00  a  year.  At  the  close  of  1916 
approximately  280,000  consumers,  or  93  per  cent  of  the 
total  number,  were  furnished  water  on  the  assessed  rates 
basis. 

The  meter  rate  is  62^  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet, 
subject  to  a  discount  of  25  per  cent  for  prompt  payment, 
or  approximately  6|  cents  net  per  thousand  gallons. 
There  is  no  minimum  charge  for  service,  each  consumer 
paying  only  for  as  much  water  as  he  may  take.  The 
meter  rate  applies  to  all  premises  where  the  net  charges 
on  the  assessed  rates  basis  would  aggregate  $30.00  or 
more  a  year ;  also  to  all  premises  used  for  certain  indus- 
trial and  commercial  purposes  and  to  certain  other  spe- 
cial classes  of  occupancy  without  regard  to  the  quantity 
of  water  used.*  At  the  close  of  1916  approximately 
21,000  consumers,  or  7  per  cent  of  the  total  number,  paid 
on  the  meter  basis  for  the  water  which  they  took. 

But  few  consumers  fail  to  take  advantage  of  the  dis- 
count allowed  for  prompt  payment.  In  practically  all 
cases,  therefore,  raising  the  discount  rate  operates  to 
decrease  water  bills ;  lowering  the  discount  rate  operates 
to  increase  bills. 

November  1, 1914 — on  the  eve  of  the  mayoralty  election 

*An  ordinance  passed  by  the  City  Council  on  June  25,  1917,  re- 
duced the  maximum  assessed  rate  charge  from  $100  to  $30  a  year 
net,  and  also  extended  the  meter  service  to  certain  types  of  premises 
which  theretofore  had  not  been  placed  on  the  meter  basis.  On  De- 
cember 1,  1917,  the  number  of  unmetered  consumers  was  approxi- 
mately 285,000;  the  number  of  metered  consumers,  about  22,000. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  67 

of  1915 — the  discount  rate  was  raised  from  15  to  25  per 
cent.  This  change  in  discount  operated  to  reduce  con- 
sumers' bills  and  was  heralded  as  an  achievement  of  the 
administration  then  in  office.  The  change  also  operated 
to  reduce  the  revenue  of  the  water  fund  by  more  than 
$800,000  annually. 

At  the  time  this  change  was  made  the  surplus  in  the 
water  fund  was  approximately  $4,160,000.  This  large 
surplus  had  resulted  in  part  from  the  sale  of  general 
corporate  bonds  in  1908,  $1,008,000  of  which  were  still 
outstanding,  and  in  part  from  the  failure  to  redeem  water 
loan  bonds  as  they  matured  and  to  pay  the  interest  there- 
on with  water  revenue.  Up  to  the  close  of  1914,  approxi- 
mately $2,485,000  in  general  taxes  had  been  levied  and 
paid  out  on  account  of  the  principal  and  interest  of  water 
works  bonds.  Thus  practically  the  entire  surplus  in  the 
water  fund  at  that  time  had  been  built  up  either  by  selling 
bonds  or  by  meeting  bond  payments  with  general  tax 
funds  instead  of  with  water  revenue.  In  addition  to 
this,  at  the  time  the  change  in  the  discount  rate  was  made 
large  capital  outlays  for  plant  extensions  were  either 
under  way  or  in  contemplation  as  a  result  of  the  efforts 
being  made  to  meet  the  increasing  and  excessive  demand 
for  water  due  to  waste  and  leakage.  Further,  a  large 
amount  of  water  fund  revenue  was  being  used  for  general 
corporate  purposes. 

In  view  of  this  whole  situation,  the  wisdom  and  ex- 
pediency of  such  a  reduction  in  water  fund  revenue  were 
to  be  seriously  questioned.  The  crippling  of  the  fund 
might  have  been  anticipated,  particularly  since  no  steps 
were  taken  to  check  the  drain  upon  it  for  plant  extensions 
and  for  general  corporate  purposes.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  since  1914  expenditures  have  far  exceeded  revenue, 
and  the  surplus  which  at  that  time  was  more  than  $4,- 
000,000  has  become  so  seriously  impaired  that  water  cer- 


68  Chicago  Btweau  of  Public  Efficiency 

tificates  to  the  amount  of  $500,000  have  been  issued  dur- 
ing the  current  year,  and  a  further  loan  of  $500,000  has 
been  authorized  and  probably  will  soon  be  necessary. 
The  Finance  Committee  of  the  City  Council  has  also 
recommended  raising  water  rates  to  a  higher  level  than 
obtained  prior  to  the  reduction  of  1914.  The  Council  de- 
feated the  proposed  increase  in  rates,  but  such  an  in- 
crease will  probably  soon  become  unavoidable  unless  ex- 
penditures are  curbed. 

FREE  WATER 

Besides  the  water  which  is  sold,  a  large  amount  of 
water  is  furnished  free  of  charge.  In  general,  this  free 
service  includes  all  water  used  for  public  purposes,  in- 
cluding that  used  in  the  extinguishment  of  fires,  in  the 
cleaning  and  sprinkling  of  streets,  in  the  flushing  of 
sewers,  in  street  improvement  work,  and  for  park  pur- 
poses; also  a  large  amount  used  by  private  institutions 
of  a  religious,  educational,  or  charitable  nature.  It  is 
furnished  to  all  city  buildings,  departments  and  institu- 
tions; to  the  county  and  other  public  hospitals;  to  the 
public  library  and  its  branches ;  to  the  municipal  tubercu- 
losis sanitarium  and  dispensaries;  to  state  hospitals, 
asylums,  schools  and  armories;  to  the  various  park 
boards  for  all  park  purposes ;  and  to  numerous  churches, 
parsonages,  convents,  private  and  parochial  schools,  pri- 
vate hospitals,  and  other  charitable  and  educational  in- 
stitutions. 

The  value  of  the  free  service  furnished  to  buildings,  as 
distinguished  from  that  furnished  for  outside  purposes, 
in  1916  aggregated  $328,918,  on  the  basis  of  the  usual 
charges  made  for  similar  service  furnished  to  ordinary 
private  consumers.  Since  but  few  of  these  premises  are 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  69 

provided  with  meters,  there  are  no  reliable  data  as  to  how 
much  water  they  actually  used  or  wasted.  The  above 
amount  does  not  include  any  allowance  for  water  used 
outside  of  buildings  such  as  that  used  for  extinguishing 
fires,  sprinkling  and  cleaning  streets,  flushing  sewers  and 
other  similar  uses,  or  for  water  used  for  general  park 
purposes.  The  value  of  this  outside  service,  which  can 
only  be  approximated,  probably  amounts  to  about  $1,- 
000,000  per  year.  The  cost  of  all  such  service,  which  is 
ordinarily  spoken  of  as  being  free,  of  course  has  to  be 
paid  and  is  in  fact  included  in  the  charges  collected  from 
the  revenue  paying  consumers. 

Of  the  free  service  furnished  to  buildings,  slightly  less 
than  40  per  cent  goes  to  private  institutions,  many  of 
which  not  only  receive  water  free  but  have  their  service 
pipes  installed  free  of  charge  by  the  City.  The  expense 
of  such  work  is  ordinarily  borne  by  the  consumer. 

The  extent  to  which  water  used  for  public  or  quasi- 
public  purposes  shall  be  charged  for,  and  the  charges 
collected  and  paid  into  the  water  fund,  involves  largely 
questions  of  public  policy.  The  practice  varies  widely 
in  different  cities.  Some  cities  insist  upon  all  municipal 
departments  as  well  as  all  other  governmental  agencies 
and  all  charitable,  religious,  and  educational  institutions 
paying  for  the  water  which  they  take.  Others  exempt  all 
such  users  from  payment,  requiring  the  water  works  to 
furnish  the  service  free.  Between  these  two  extremes 
there  are  many  variations  of  policy.  There  are  but  few 
cities,  however,  which  are  as  liberal  as  Chicago  is  with  its 
free  service. 

The  way  in  which  the  questions  of  policy  involved  in 
this  matter  are  determined  is  of  less  importance  than  the 
adoption  of  effective  measures  to  prevent  waste  and 
leakage  on  the  premises  of  such  consumers.  At  present 


70  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

less  than  10  per  cent  of  them  are  under  meter  control, 
and  even  where  meters  have  been  installed  no  limitation 
is  placed  upon  the  amount  of  water  that  may  be  taken 
free  of  charge.  Under  such  conditions  it  is  inevitable 
that  there  will  be  a  large  amount  of  waste  and  leakage 
in  connection  with  this  free  service. 

As  a  waste  prevention  measure,  the  Bureau  recom- 
mends that  so  far  as  practicable  all  free  service  whether 
furnished  for  public  uses  or  to  private  institutions  be 
placed  under  meter  control  at  once;  that  the  maximum 
amount  of  water  to  be  provided  free  in  each  instance  be 
fixed,  such  maximum  to  be  determined  by  the  legitimate 
requirements  of  the  user;  and  that  all  city  departments, 
other  governing  agencies,  and  private  institutions  re- 
ceiving such  free  service  be  required  to  pay  at  the  regular 
meter  rate  for  all  the  water  passing  through  the  meters 
in  excess  of  the  maximum  amount  thus  established. 

REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURES 

The  following  tables  show  the  annual  revenue  received 
by  the  water  fund  and  the  expenditures  made  therefrom 
for  the  five-year  period  ended  December  31, 1916 ;  also  the 
surplus  to  the  credit  of  the  fund  at  the  close  of  each  year. 
Tables  4,  5,  and  6  show  in  more  detail  the  expenditures 
set  forth  in  table  2. 


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The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  77 

At  the  close  of  1916  there  were  20,768  meter  accounts 
and  279,109  assessed  rates  accounts  on  the  books  of  the 
Bureau  of  Water.  Thus  6.9  per  cent  of  the  premises  sup- 
plied were  metered  and  93.1  per  cent  were  unmetered. 

The  meters  in  service  at  the  close  of  1916  were  dis- 
tributed as  follows : 

Stores  and  flats 4,259 

Business  houses 1,791 

Residence  and  apartment  buildings 6,188 

Factories 3,229 

Railroads 795 

Breweries  185 

Liveries  634 

Packing  houses 176 

Laundries   596 

Hotels 373 

Office  buildings 414 

Theaters 114 

Charitable  institutions 80 

Miscellaneous 1,934 


Total  20,768 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  table  on  page  71  that  these 
metered  consumers  paid  a  little  less  than  half  (47  per 
cent  in  1916)  of  the  revenue  derived  from  the  sale  of 
water.  They  took  (including  a  5  per  cent  allowance  for 
meter  slippage  )a  little  less  than  one-fourth  (22  per  cent) 
of  the  total  amount  of  water  pumped.*  Since  the  water 
thus  taken  was  paid  for  on  a  measured  service  basis,  pre- 
sumably use  was  made  of  the  greater  part  of  it  and  only 
a  comparatively  small  part  was  wasted.  Approximately 
600  of  the  larger  consumers,  among  which  are  the  rail- 
roads, packing  houses,  factories,  hotels,  breweries,  and 

*The  gross  pumpage  in  1916  was  236,139,380,000  gallons;  the 
metered  consumption,  including  that  supplied  to  outside  communities, 
was  50,541,560,000  gallons. 


78  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

commercial  and  office  buildings,  -take  about  half  of  the 
metered  supply. 

The  unmetered  consumers  on  the  other  hand  paid 
slightly  more  than  half  (53  per  cent)  of  the  revenue  re- 
ceived and  apparently  used  slightly  less  than  one-sixth 
(15  per  cent)  of  the  water  pumped.  "Used"  in  this  con- 
nection is  employed  in  contradistinction  to  "lost  through 
waste  and  leakage"  and  is  meant  to  include  only  water 
consumed  for  purposes  for  which  water  is  necessary  or 
has  any  real  value. 

Of  the  remaining  63  per  cent  of  the  water  pumped, 
probably  about  3  per  cent  was  used  for  public  purposes 
and  60  per  cent  was  lost  through  waste  and  leakage.  How 
much  of  this  loss  occurred  in  the  delivery  of  the  water  to 
consumers  and  how  much  of  it  occurred  after  the  water 
reached  their  premises  is  not  known.  Two-thirds  of  it 
probably  occurred  after  such  delivery. 

The  consumers  who  pay  for  their  water  by  meter  pay 
6|  cents  per  thousand  gallons  registered  by  the  meters. 
Since  some  water  slips  through  the  meters  without  regis- 
tering, the  rate  to  these  consumers  for  the  water  which 
they  actually  receive  is  less  than  6£  cents.  Assuming  a 
meter  slippage  of  5  per  cent,  they  pay  5.9  cents  per 
thousand  gallons  for  their  supply. 

The  unmetered  consumers  apparently  take  about  55  per 
cent  of  the  pumpage.  They  use  about  15  per  cent,  and 
they  throw  away  through  waste  and  leakage  about  40  per 
cent,  or  more  than  two  and  a  half  times  as  much  as  they 
use.  For  that  which  they  used  they  paid  in  1916  at  the 
rate  of  about  9.9  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  but  for  that 
which  they  took,  including  that  which  they  threw  away 
and  which  did  no  one  any  good,  they  paid  only  about  2.6 
cents  per  thousand  gallons.  This  was  less  than  the  cost 
of  supplying  the  water,  which  in  1916,  including  fixed 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  79 

charges  (interest  and  depreciation),  was  about  2.9  cents 
per  thousand  gallons. 

In  a  municipally  owned  and  operated  water  works  busi- 
ness the  rate  at  which  water  is  sold  to  revenue  paying 
consumers  is  influenced  by  other  considerations  than  the 
amount  of  money  required  for  direct  operating  and  main- 
tenance charges.  Among  such  considerations  are  the 
amounts  required  for  sinking  fund  and  construction  pur- 
poses, and  also  the  amount  of  water  supplied  for  public 
purposes  or  lost  in  delivery  and  from  which  no  revenue 
is  derived.  Such  rates  may  therefore  properly  be  higher 
or  lower  than  the  cost  of  the  water  supplied  as  above  esti- 
mated upon  the  basis  of  operation  and  maintenance 
charges  plus  depreciation  and  interest.  It  must  be  ap- 
parent, however,  that  the  unmetered  consumers,  by  per- 
mitting the  enormous  waste  and  leakage  which  exist  on 
their  premises,  are  unnecessarily  imposing  a  very  large 
financial  burden  both  upon  themselves  and  the  metered 
consumers. 

It  will  be  noted  from  table  3  (page  73)  that  recent 
expenditures  have  been  exceeding  revenue  and  that  the 
surplus  has  been  materially  reduced.  The  actual  condi- 
tion of  the  water  fund  December  31, 1916,  was  worse  than 
the  surplus  of  $1,281,908  shown  in  the  table  would  indi- 
cate. Of  this  amount,  $1,225,373  had  been  set  apart  for 
working  capital  accounts,  and  was  then  tied  up  either 
in  cash  or  in  material.  Thus  the  actual  available  cash 
balance  in  the  fund  at  the  beginning  of  1917  was  only 
$56,535.  The  appropriations  for  the  current  year  exceed 
the  estimated  revenue  by  about  $1,700,000.  There  may  be 
a  large  salvage  on  these  appropriations,  but  even  taking 
that  into  account  it  is  improbable  that  the  actual  expendi- 
tures will  be  kept  within  the  revenue  received. 

Foreseeing  this  situation,  the  Finance  Committee  of 


80  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  City  Council  in  June,  1917,  authorized  the  borrowing 
of  $1,000,000  on  water  certificates  and  recommended  also 
a  20  per  cent  increase  in  water  rates.  The  Council  ap- 
proved the  first  project.  Five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars has  since  been  borrowed  and  at  present  the  balance 
in  the  fund  is  such  as  to  indicate  that  shortly  it  will  be 
necessary  to  borrow  the  remaining  $500,000  authorized. 
The  proposal  to  raise  rates  was  not  adopted. 

The  present  reduced  condition  of  the  water  fund  is 
due  chiefly  to  the  drain  upon  it  for  additional  equipment 
necessary  to  meet  the  increasing  demand  for  water  due 
to  waste  and  leakage. 

WATER  FUND  DIVERTED  TO  CORPORATE  USES 

Another  factor  which  has  contributed  to  the  financial 
situation  above  described  is  the  use  of  large  sums  of 
water  revenue  for  other  than  water  works  purposes.  The 
water  fund  is  being  continually  appropriated  for  other 
municipal  projects  and  for  the  work  of  other  departments 
of  the  City  government.  This  practice  is  an  old  one  but 
has  been  greatly  extended  within  the  past  few  years.  It 
is  objectionable  on  several  grounds : 

1.  On  principle,  the  revenue  produced  by  a  public 
utility  like  the  water  works  should  not  be  used  for  any 
purpose  not  properly  related  to  the  operation  of  the  plant 
and  to  the  extension  and  improvement  of  the  service. 
When  the  revenue  exceeds  the  amount  required  for  such 
purposes  the  rates  should  be  reduced.    The  water  service 
should  not  become  a  means  of  raising  revenue  because 
use  of  water  is  not  an  indication  of  ability  to  pay  taxes. 

2.  To  sanction  the  practice  is  to  invite  extravagance 
and  abuses.  Other  City  departments  should  be  required 
to  operate  on  ordinary  corporate  revenues  derived  from 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  81 

general  taxation  and  miscellaneous  sources.  Whenever 
it  appears  that  the  general  corporate  revenues  are  insuffi- 
cient to  meet  legitimate  needs,  that  issue  should  be  con- 
sidered on  its  merits  and  appropriate  direct  relief  af- 
forded. Any  other  policy  is  wrong  on  general  principles. 
But  aside  from  that,  the  very  fact  that  the  surplus  in  a 
fund  like  the  water  fund  may  be  diverted  to  the  use  of 
other  City  departments,  when  their  legitimate  revenue  has 
been  exhausted,  is  a  constant  temptation  to  wasteful  ex- 
penditures by  such  departments.  Besides,  the  danger  of 
serious  abuses  developing  is  always  present  when  the  City 
authorities,  if  they  yield  to  the  very  natural  pressure 
which  such  a  possibility  produces,  can  create  a  surplus 
to  be  thus  used  by  so  simple  a  device  as  changing  the  dis- 
count rate  on  water  bills  (lowering  the  discount  rate  10 
per  cent  will  increase  the  water  revenue  about  $1,000,000 
annually)  or  by  invoking  general  tax  levies  to  meet  obli- 
gations which  otherwise  would  have  to  be  paid  from  the 
water  fund.  For  instance,  each  year  for  several  years 
past  the  tax  levy  for  general  corporate  purposes  has  been 
in  effect  increased  beyond  the  limit  fixed  by  law  by  levy- 
ing taxes  for  the  redemption  of  water  loan  bonds  and  the 
payment  of  interest  thereon — obligations  which  properly 
should  be  paid  from  the  water  fund — and  by  then,  in  turn, 
transferring  large  sums  of  water  revenue  to  help  out  the 
other  departments.  The  only  way  to  avoid  situations  of 
this  sort  is  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  principle  that  water 
revenue  is  to  be  used  only  for  purposes  properly  related 
to  the  water  service. 

3.  The  law  provides  expressly  that  the  water  fund 
shall  be  used  only  for  water  works  purposes. 

Notwithstanding  both  the  impropriety  and  the  illegal- 
ity of  diverting  the  fund  to  other  purposes,  it  is  being 
done  continually.  As  has  been  said,  the  practice  is  an  old 


82  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

one,  but  reference  to  the  methods  employed  in  recent 
years  will  suffice  to  illustrate  how  it  operates. 

Generally,  although  not  always,  the  appropriations  are 
made  on  the  theory  that  other  City  departments  render 
service  to  the  water  works  and  that  the  cost  of  such  serv- 
ice should  be  borne  by  the  water  fund. 

In  1913,  the  property  known  as  the  Maxwell  tract, 
located  at  Thirty-first  Street  and  California  Avenue,  was 
purchased  at  a  cost  of  approximately  $195,000.  The  pri- 
mary purpose  of  this  purchase  was  to  provide  a  site  for 
the  new  municipal  shops  then  in  contemplation.  Imme- 
diately, however,  more  than  one-third  of  the  entire  tract 
was  set  apart  as  a  site  for  the  new  contagious  diseases 
hospital  which  has  since  been  erected  thereon. 

In  1915,  an  appropriation  of  $30,000  was  made  for  the 
purchase  of  a  tug  boat  for  service  between  the  shore  and 
the  intake  cribs.  The  plans  for  this  purchase  were  after- 
ward abandoned,  and  $4,500  of  the  appropriation  was 
diverted  to  buying  a  gas  power  boat  for  which  the  water 
works  officials  have  no  use  but  which  is  being  used  by  the 
harbormaster. 

The  sewer  system  is  not  so  related  to  the  water  supply 
system  as  to  make  the  cost  of  operating  and  maintaining 
it  a  proper  charge  upon  the  water  fund.  Notwithstanding 
this,  in  1915,  five  sewage  pumping  stations,  which  had 
originally  been  constructed  by  special  assessment  and 
had  for  many  years  been  operated  with  general  corporate 
revenue,  were  added  to  the  burden  carried  by  the  water 
fund.  During  1915  and  1916  a  total  of  approximately 
$160,000  was  expended  for  their  operation,  maintenance, 
and  betterment.  The  1917  appropriations  for  the  same 
purposes  aggregate  about  $92,000. 

In  1916,  86  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  operating  and  main- 
taining the  Bureau  of  Sewers  was  also  transferred  to 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  83 

the  water  fund.  This  expense  had  previously  been  borne, 
and  properly  so,  by  the  corporate  fund.  This  latest  raid 
on  the  water  revenue  cost  the  water  fund  $411,280  in  1916, 
and  will  cost  it  approximately  $360,000  in  1917. 

For  several  years  prior  to  1916,  the  salaries  of  a  num- 
ber of  dredging  inspectors  and  harbor  police  were  paid 
from  water  revenue.  This  expenditure  is  justified  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  necessary  to  protect  the  water  supply 
from  being  polluted  by  scows  and  vessels  dumping  con- 
taminating matter  in  the  lake  near  the  intake  cribs.  The 
aggregate  amounts  of  the  salaries  paid  ranged  from 
$14,000  to  $19,000  a  year,  depending  upon  the  number  of 
men  employed.  In  1916,  the  Bureau  of  Rivers  and  Har- 
bors was  organized  and  the  dredging  inspectors  and  har- 
bor police  were  placed  under  its  jurisdiction.  When  this 
new  bureau  submitted  its  budget  request  to  the  City 
Council  it  estimated  that  approximately  9  per  cent  of  its 
total  expenditures  would  be  equivalent  to  the  salaries  to 
be  paid  the  employes  mentioned.  Therefore,  the  Coun- 
cil was  asked  to  direct  that  9  per  cent  of  the  appropria- 
tion made  for  the  new  bureau  be  charged  to  the  water 
fund.  The  Council  acted  in  accordance  with  this  request. 
Before  making  the  appropriation,  however,  the  Council 
itself,  besides  changing  the  estimates  submitted  by  the 
bureau  in  some  other  respects,  increased  the  salaries  to 
be  paid  to  bridge  tenders,  who  are  also  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Bureau  of  Rivers  and  Harbors.  After  such 
changes  had  been  made  9  per  cent  of  the  total  appropria- 
tion for  the  bureau  no  longer  represented  the  value  of 
the  services  to  be  furnished  on  account  of  the  water  sup- 
ply. The  figure  of  9  per  cent  was  permitted  to  stand, 
however.  As  a  result  of  this  maneuvering,  the  water 
fund  contributed  $27,618  instead  of  $16,500  (the  amount 
specifically  appropriated  for  salaries  of  inspectors  and 


84  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

police)  or  about  $11,000  for  which  it  apparently  received 
little  or  no  service.  Substantially  the  same  result  will 
follow  also  in  1917. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  in  support  of  the  theory  that 
certain  City  departments  render  services  on  account  of 
the  water  works  business  and  that  they  should  be  paid 
therefor  from  the  water  fund.  The  different  branches  of 
the  water  works  service  occupy  valuable  space  in  the  City 
Hall  for  which  a  rental  charge  is  proper.  Departments 
such  as  the  Department  of  Finance,  the  Law  Department, 
the  Department  of  Supplies,  and  certain  other  depart- 
ments also  perform  work  which  may  properly  be  paid  for 
from  the  water  fund.  In  the  application  of  this  theory, 
however,  much  imposition  has  been  practiced. 

The  method  usually  employed  in  such  cases  is  to  reim- 
burse the  corporate  fund  by  charging  the  water  fund 
with  a  certain  percentage  of  the  expense  of  the  depart- 
ment or  bureau  rendering  the  service.  Occasionally  sal- 
aries and  other  expenses  of  such  departments  or  bureaus 
are  specifically  appropriated  for  in  the  water  fund  bud- 
get. The  following  table  shows  the  amounts  thus  ex- 
pended from  the  water  fund  in  1915  and  1916  and  the 
several  departments  or  bureaus  involved  in  the  transac- 
tions ;  also  what  percentage  of  the  total  appropriation  of 
each  department  or  bureau  was  charged  to  the  water 
fund. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


85 


Table  Showing  Amounts  Expended  from  the  Corporate  Fund  and  Subsequently 

Charged  to  the  Water  Fund  in  1915  and  1916;  also  the  Departments 

and  Bureaus  Making  Such  Expenditures  and  the  Percentage 

of  the  Total  Expenditure  of  Each  which  Was 

Charged  to  the  Water  Fund* 


1915 

1916 

Amount 

Per 
Cent 

Amount 

Per 

Cent 

City  Council  

$20,887.65 

10 

$21,275  00 

10 

Committee  on  Finance  

687  06 

10 

3,239  53 

10 

City  Clerk  

5,190.38 

10f 

5,028.61 

iot 

Corporation  Counsel  

37,248.71 

16 

41,426  09 

16 

City  Attorney    

28,103.32 

21 

28,371  09 

21 

City  Comptroller.  ...  

43,172  86 

20f 

38,244  11 

20t 

City  Treasurer  

12,321.34 

20f 

11,632.83 

20t 

Civil  Service  Commission  

18,952.20 

20 

15,824.60 

20 

Department  of  Supplies  

7,580.76 

25 

13,599  62 

40 

Board  of  Local  Improvements  

34,953.50 

5t 

35,753.36 

5t 

Department  of  Public  Works  (Com- 
missioner's Office)  

29,380.55 

55 

26,562.98 

55 

Bureau  of  Maps  and  Plats  

4,344.15 

10 

4,188  54 

10 

Bureau  of  City  Hall  

19,561  17 

8 

59,962  15 

25 

Bureau  of  Sewers  

411,280.39 

86 

Bureau  of  Harbors  

#19,415.10 

27,618.27 

9 

Department  of  Health  (Laboratories) 

*  5,481.69 

7,411.70 

20 

Total.  . 

$287,280  44 

$751,418  87 

*  As  reported  by  City  Comptroller. 

f  Except  certain  specific  items  of  the  appropriation  for  such  office. 

f  Appropriated  directly  from  water  fund;  not  a  reimbursement. 

The  theory  upon  which  charges  of  this  kind  are  justi- 
fied implies  that  the  services  rendered  are  necessary  to 
the  carrying  on  of  the  water  works  business.  Obviously, 
such  charges  should  be  limited  to  services  of  that  kind. 
Moreover,  assuming  the  correctness  of  the  theory,  there 
should  be  some  definite  relation  between  the  value  of  the 
services  rendered  and  the  amount  charged.  Unfortu- 
nately, in  the  past  that  has  not  been  the  case  and  there  is 
no  definite  assurance  that  it  is  so  even  now.  The  situation 
resulting  from  the  appropriation  for  the  Bureau  of 
Rivers  and  Harbors  above  referred  to  is  typical.  Often 
expenditures  of  this  kind  have  been  limited  only  by  what 


86  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  traffic  would  decently  bear.  A  comparison  of  the  fig- 
ures since  1910  as  shown  in  the  following  table  well  illus- 
trates this. 


Table  Showing  Expenditures  from  the  Water  Fund  to 
Cover  Services  Rendered  by  Other  City  Depart- 
ments for  the  Period  1910  to  1916* 

Year  Amount 

1910   $277,097 

1911  287,376 

1912  438,349 

1913  474,435 

1914  254,008 

1915  287,280 

1916  751,419 

The  unusually  large  expenditures  shown  for  1912  and 
1913  are  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  City  was 
short  in  its  general  corporate  revenue  because  of  a  court 
decision  which  deprived  it  of  about  $3,000,000  in  taxes. 
To  help  out  the  situation,  appropriations  from  the  water 
fund  were  increased  to  the  extent  indicated. 

The  1916  figure  includes  the  appropriation  for  the 
Bureau  of  Sewers  already  referred  to. 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  appropriation  ordinance  in 
1914,  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  raised  some 
question  as  to  the  propriety  or  legality  of  using  the  water 
fund  for  ordinary  corporate  purposes.  Thereupon  an 
ordinance  was  passed  fixing  the  proportionate  amounts 
of  the  expenditures  of  other  departments  which  should 


*The  figures  used  in  this  table  are  those  reported  by  the  City  Comp- 
troller, the  details  of  which  for  the  years  1915  and  1916  are  shown  in  the 
preceding  table.  These  figures  differ  somewhat  from  those  reported  by 
the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  shown  in  Table  4,  page  74.  The 
reasons  for  such  differences  do  not  appear  in  the  reports. 


r-  >V  ^ 

"*~     /-^_ 

t 


Tine  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  87 

thereafter  be  charged  to  the  water  fund.  This  ordinance, 
recites  that  the  heads  of  the  various  branches  of  the  City 
government  rendering  such  services  have  made  estimates 
of  the  amounts  properly  chargeable  to  the  water  fund, 
from  which  estimates  the  City  Comptroller  has  arrived 
at  the  just  and  equitable  percentage  of  the  expenditures 
of  each  office  that  should  be  borne  by  that  fund,  but  the 
Bureau  has  not  been  able  to  find  the  data  or,  in  most 
cases,  to  ascertain  the  basis  upon  which  the  percentages 
then  established  and  now  in  effect  were  determined. 

The  most  flagrant  violation  of  both  the  spirit  and  the 
letter  of  the  law  prohibiting  the  use  of  water  revenue  for 
other  than  water  works  purposes  is  to  be  found  in  the  ex- 
penditures made  in  recent  years  on  account  of  the  sewage 
pumping  stations  and  the  Bureau  of  Sewers.  Whatever 
might  be  said  of  the  right  to  use  the  water  fund  to  pre- 
vent sewage  from  polluting  the  water  supply,  the  fact  is 
that  the  expenditures  now  made  from  this  fund  are  not 
for  such  purpose. 

The  sewage  pumping  stations  are  operated  in  connec- 
tion with  the  sewer  system  in  certain  districts  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  City.  They  were  built  by  special 
assessment  and  prior  to  1915  were  operated  and  main- 
tained with  the  corporate  fund.  These  stations  receive 
the  sewage  from  the  smaller  sewers  in  their  respective 
districts  and  pump  it  into  larger  conduits  leading  to  the 
Calumet  River,  except  in  one  instance  where  it  is  pumped 
into  the  Stony  Island  Avenue  sewer.  The  sewage  pump- 
ing stations  are  no  part  of  the  water  supply  system  and 
have  no  connection  with  it.  It  is  clearly  improper  that 
the  water  fund  should  carry  the  burden  of  operating  and 
maintaining  them. 

The  appropriations  for  the  Bureau  of  Sewers,  86  per 
cent  of  which  is  being  paid  from  the  water  fund,  include 


88  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

items  for  the  general  administration  of  the  bureau,  for 
cleaning  and  repairing  sewers,  for  inspection  service, 
and  for  the  restoration  of  streets  after  openings  have 
been  made  therein.  Like  the  sewage  pumping  stations, 
the  sewers  are  in  no  sense  a  part  of  the  water  supply 
system.  The  use  of  the  water  fund  for  this  purpose,  as 
well  as  for  the  sewage  pumping  stations,  is  plainly  in 
violation  of  the  law  restricting  the  application  of  water 
revenue  to  water  works  purposes.  The  present  practice 
could  probably  be  stopped  if  a  taxpayer  were  to  insti- 
tute legal  proceedings.  Such  proceedings  if  under- 
taken might  seriously  embarrass  the  work  of  the  Bureau 
of  Sewers,  and  the  City  Council  should  itself  correct  the 
situation  by  hereafter  appropriating  exclusively  from 
the  corporate  fund  for  the  purposes  mentioned. 

The  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency  recommends 
that  in  the  future  appropriations  from  the  water  fund 
be  limited  to  water  works  purposes,  and  that  all  other 
activities,  including  the  operation  of  the  sewage  pumping 
stations  and  the  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Sewers,  be  car- 
ried on  either  with  ordinary  corporate  or  such  other 
revenue  as  is  properly  applicable  thereto.  So  far  as  the 
reimbursement  of  the  corporate  fund  for  expenditures 
made  from  it  on  account  of  the  water  works  business  is 
concerned,  the  charges  made  should  represent  the  cost  of 
the  services  rendered.  Steps  should  be  taken  to  establish 
definitely  the  value  of  such  services  and  to  place  such 
transactions  upon  a  businesslike  basis. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  89 


IV.    CHICAGO'S  WATER  SUPPLY  PROBLEMS 

The  function  of  a  properly  constructed  and  operated 
water  supply  system  is  to  furnish  an  adequate  supply  of 
pure  water  at  a  reasonable  cost.  The  main  problem  in 
Chicago  has  been,  and  still  is,  to  obtain  water  of  a  desir- 
able degree  of  purity  and  also  to  keep  pace  with  a  con- 
stant demand  for  a  greater  quantity. 

THE  QUESTION  OF  COST 

The  Chicago  Water  Works  is  in  the  business  of  supply- 
ing the  community  with  water.  Because  Lake  Michigan 
furnishes  an  unlimited  supply  close  at  hand  and  the  only 
expense  involved  in  furnishing  it  to  consumers  is  the  cost 
of  transporting  it  to  their  premises,  the  direct  charges  to 
water  users  are  lower  than  in  many  other  communities, 
but  they  are  somewhat  higher  than  in  Cleveland  and  in 
Milwaukee  where  similar  conditions  of  supply  and  re- 
quirements of  distribution  exist.  Moreover,  rates  are 
higher  in  Chicago  than  would  be  required  for  much  better 
service  than  is  now  furnished  if  it  were  not  for  the  ex- 
cessive amount  of  water  lost  through  waste  and  leakage 
after  the  supply  leaves  the  pumping  stations. 

THE  PURITY  OF  THE  SUPPLY 

The  Problem  as  Related  to  Health 

From  the  standpoint  of  purity,  "the  water  supply 
problem  consists  in  securing  such  a  quality  of  water  as 
will  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  city  so  far  as  health  is  con- 
cerned and  satisfy  reasonable  esthetic  demands.  Neither 


90  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

of  these  can  be  neglected.    The  water  must  be  wholesome 
and  it  must  look  so."* 

For  Chicago,  Lake  Michigan  furnishes  an  inexhaustible 
quantity  of  water  of  a  high  degree  of  original  purity. 
That  the  City  has  always  had  trouble  with  the  quality  of 
its  water  supply  has  been  due  principally  to  the  vast 
amount  of  human  and  industrial  wastes  which  Chicago 
itself  and  the  neighboring  cities  and  towns  have  dis- 
charged into  the  lake.  As  related  to  health,  therefore, 
the  problem  has  been  largely  to  avoid  and  to  prevent  this 
pollution.  The  increasing  quantities  of  filth  to  be  dis- 
posed of,  as  both  Chicago  and  the  neighboring  territory 
along  the  shores  of  the  lake  have  grown  in  population 
and  in  industrial  importance,  and  the  more  exacting  re- 
quirements demanded  in  recent  years  by  higher  standards 
of  purity  have  added  greatly  to  the  difficulties  of  the 
problem.  Within  the  past  few  years  efforts  to  avoid  and 
to  prevent  pollution  have  been  supplemented  by  treating 
the  water  with  chlorine  as  a  means  of  further  purification. 

Efforts  to  Avoid  Pollution  by  Constructing  Cribs  and  Tunnels 

The  early  settlers  in  Chicago  took  their  water  from 
wells  and  from  the  Chicago  River.  Later  water  was 
brought  from  the  lake  and  peddled  about  the  City  in  hogs- 
heads mounted  on  wheels  and  drawn  by  horses.  Begin- 
ning in  1842,  the  Chicago  Hydraulic  Company,  a  private 
corporation,  supplied  a  small  portion  of  the  City  with 
water  by  means  of  a  pumping  engine  located  at  Lake 
Street  and  Michigan  Avenue.  The  water  was  drawn 
through  an  intake  pipe  extending  into  the  lake  about  500 
feet.  It  is  said,  however,  that  in  1853,  when  the  City 
began  to  operate  its  own  water  works,  about  80  per  cent 


*Report  to  The  Chicago  Real  Estate  Board  on  Water  Supply  and 
Sewage  Disposal  by  Messrs.  Soper,  Watson,  and  Martin,  1915. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  91 

of  the  population  then  estimated  at  65,000  still  obtained 
its  water  from  wells  and  water  carts.  The  water  obtained 
from  all  these  earlier  sources  was  frequently  contami- 
nated and  was  extremely  unsatisfactory. 

The  City  itself  constructed  its  first  pumping  station  at 
Chicago  Avenue  and  the  lake,  and  the  water  to  supply 
the  pumps  was  drawn  from  an  inlet  basin  at  the  foot  of 
Chicago  Avenue,  the  basin  being  separated  from  the  lake 
by  a  semi-circular  breakwater  with  an  opening  to  the 
southeast.  The  distance  from  this  intake  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Chicago  River  was  about  3,000  feet.  It  was  thought 
that  water  drawn  through  an  inlet  located  at  this  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  of  the  river  would  be  free  from  con- 
tamination. However,  the  rapid  growth  of  the  City  which 
followed  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Chicago  Avenue 
station,  the  introduction  of  a  sewerage  system  emptying 
into  the  river,  and  the  establishment  of  the  packing  and 
other  industries,  resulting  in  the  production  of  large 
quantities  of  industrial  wastes,  greatly  increased  the 
amount  of  filth  discharged  into  the  lake  by  way  of  the 
river,  and  this  contamination,  carried  northward  by  the 
winds  and  lake  currents,  affected  the  water  at  the  Chi- 
cago Avenue  intake  to  such  an  extent  that  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  some  other  source  of  supply  must  be  se- 
cured. 

Accordingly,  the  Two-Mile  crib  was  planned  and  con- 
structed. The  plan  was  to  extend  the  intake  out  into  the 
lake  and  to  take  the  water  farther  from  the  source  of 
pollution,  the  theory  being  that  the  polluted  matter  would 
remain  near  the  shore. 

This  policy  of  attempting  to  avoid  pollution  by  placing 
the  intake  cribs  as  far  out  in  the  lake  as  practicable  has 
been  followed  in  locating  each  of  the  six  cribs  since  con- 
structed. The  Two-Mile,  Lake  View,  Sixty-eighth  Street, 


92  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

and  Edward  F.  Dunne  cribs  are  offshore  approximately 
two  miles;  the  Carter  H.  Harrison  and  the  new  Wilson 
Avenue  cribs,  about  three  miles ;  and  the  Four-Mile  crib, 
about  four  miles. 

Efforts  to  Prevent  Pollution  by  Diverting  Sewage  from  the  Lake 

The  construction  of  intake  cribs  at  from  two  to  four 
miles  out  in  the  lake  improved  the  quality  of  the  water 
supply,  but  the  theory  that  the  sewage  and  other  filth 
flowing  into  the  lake  from  the  river  and  from  the  sewers 
along  the  lake  shore  would  remain  near  the  shore  line 
was  soon  shown  to  be  fallacious.  At  times  the  City  suf- 
fered greatly  from  the  contamination  of  the  water  supply 
brought  about  by  the  discharge  of  the  polluted  contents 
of  the  river  into  the  lake.  Ultimately  the  necessity  for 
keeping  the  sewage  away  from  the  lake  was  realized,  and 
attention  was  turned  to  diverting  the  flow  of  both  the 
river  and  the  sewers. 

The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  connecting  the  south 
branch  of  the  Chicago  River  with  the  Illinois  River  at  La- 
Salle,  Illinois,  which  was  opened  in  1848,  was  enlarged 
between  1866  and  1871  so  as  to  take  a  greater  quantity 
of  water  from  the  Chicago  River  and  thus  to  dispose  of 
a  greater  amount  of  Chicago's  sewage.  Again  in  1886 
the  flow  from  the  river  to  the  canal  was  increased,  the 
intention  being  in  each  case  to  take  more  water  into  the 
canal  at  the  head  and  in  that  way  to  cleanse  and  purify 
the  river.  This  means  of  diverting  sewage  from  the  lake 
proved  wholly  inadequate,  however,  and  in  1889  the  con- 
struction of  the  Sanitary  District  Drainage  Canal  was 
authorized  by  the  Legislature.* 

*The  Sanitary  District  Drainage  Canal  extends  from  the  Chicago 
River  at  Robey  Street  southwest  nearly  to  Joliet,  Illinois,  a  distance 
of  30  miles.  The  channel  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  Sanitary  District  of  Chicago,  a  quasi-municipal  corporation  in- 
dependent of  the  City  government  proper. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  93 

The  drainage  canal,  which  was  put  into  operation  in 
1900,  reversed  the  flow  of  the  Chicago  River.  Following 
the  completion  of  the  canal,  two  intercepting  sewers  were 
constructed,  one  extending  from  Eighty-seventh  Street 
(near  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  River)  north  to  Thirty- 
ninth  Street,  and  the  other  from  Howard  Avenue  (the 
northern  limits  of  the  city)  south  to  Diversey  Boulevard. 
These  intercepting  sewers  receive  the  sewage  which  for- 
merly flowed  into  the  lake  between  the  points  named  and 
carry  it  to  Thirty-ninth  Street  on  the  south  and  to  Law- 
rence Avenue  on  the  north,  where  it  is  pumped  into  east 
and  west  conduits  and  carried  to  the  south  and  north 
branches  of  the  river,  respectively.  Between  Thirty- 
ninth  Street  and  Diversey  Boulevard  the  sewers  which 
formerly  flowed  into  the  lake  were  diverted  directly  to 
the  river. 

With  the  completion  of  the  intercepting  sewer  system 
in  1908,  there  still  remained  the  problem  of  turning  back 
the  sewage  of  the  cities  and  villages  north  of  the  Chicago 
limits,  and  also  the  problem  of  the  Calumet  River,  which 
is  in  a  highly  polluted  condition  and  is  discharging  its 
contents  into  the  lake. 

To  accomplish  the  diversion  of  the  north  shore  sewage 
and  to  supply  water  for  its  dilution,  the  Sanitary  District 
constructed  the  North  Shore  Drainage  Canal  which  ex- 
tends from  the  lake  shore  at  the  Village  of  Wilmette  to 
the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago  River  near  Lawrence 
Avenue,  a  distance  of  eight  and  one-half  miles.  This 
channel  was  completed  in  1911.  A  system  of  intercepting 
sewers,  designed  to  collect  the  sewage  of  the  north  shore 
communities  between  the  Chicago  limits  and  the  Cook 
County  line  and  to  carry  it  to  the  north  shore  channel, 
thus  diverting  it  from  the  lake,  is  now  under  construc- 
tion, and  will  probably  be  completed  in  1919. 


94  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

When  the  north  shore  intercepting  sewers  have  been 
completed  no  sewage  will  be  discharged  into  the  lake  be- 
tween the  northern  limits  of  Cook  County  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Calumet  River,  a  distance  of  more  than  30  miles. 
The  efforts  of  the  City  of  Chicago  and  of  the  Sanitary 
District  in  this  direction  will  not,  however,  operate  to 
prevent  the  municipalities  situated  north  of  Cook  County 
as  well  as  those  along  the  Indiana  shore  from  discharg- 
ing their  sewage  into  the  lake. 

In  an  effort  to  solve  the  Calumet  River  problem,  the 
Sanitary  District  is  also  building  a  channel  from  Stony 
Creek  on  the  Little  Calumet  River  to  the  Main  Sanitary 
District  Canal  at  a  place  called  Sag.  This  Calumet-Sag 
Channel  is  designed  to  divert  the  flow  of  the  Calumet 
River  from  the  lake,  and  a  system  of  intercepting  sewers 
will  collect  practically  all  the  sewage  south  of  Eighty- 
seventh  Street,  which  now  empties  into  the  Calumet 
River,  and  carry  it  directly  to  the  new  channel.  It  is 
expected  that  this  work  will  be  completed  in  1919. 

The  Calumet-Sag  Channel  and  its  intercepting  sewer 
system  will  divert  the  sewage  now  discharged  into  the 
Calumet  River  and,  under  normal  conditions,  will  reverse 
the  flow  of  the  river,  producing  a  slow  current  away  from 
the  lake.  It  is  not  claimed  for  this  project,  however,  that 
it  will  be  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  flood  waters 
of  the  Calumet,  which  during  periods  of  heavy  rainfall 
may  be  expected  to  continue  discharging  into  the  lake, 
carrying  with  them  more  or  less  polluting  matter. 

Present  Condition  of  Lake  Water  at  Chicago 

Typhoid  fever  being  largely  a  water-borne  disease,  any 
material  improvement  in  the  quality  of  a  city's  water 
supply  is  usually  reflected  in  a  lower  typhoid  death  rate. 
In  fact,  the  typhoid  death  rate  of  a  city  is  quite  generally 
taken  as  the  measure  of  the  purity  of  its  water  supply. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


95 


28838828   '8 


96  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

The  chart  on  page  95  shows  the  typhoid  death  rate 
of  the  City  of  Chicago  for  a  period  of  years.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  opening  of  the  Sanitary  District  Canal  in 
December,  1900,  and  the  consequent  reversal  of  the  flow 
of  the  Chicago  River  did  not  apparently  aff ect  the  situa- 
tion so  long  as  the  sewers  continued  to  discharge  into  the 
lake,  but  that  since  the  completion  of  the  intercepting 
sewer  system  the  typhoid  death  rate  has  steadily  de- 
creased, except  in  1913  when  there  was  a  small  typhoid 
epidemic. 

The  chart  opposite  shows  comparatively  the  typhoid 
death  rate  of  Chicago  and  eight  other  cities  of  the  limited 
States  having  a  population  of  over  500,000  for  the  years 
1915  and  1916.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  1915  the  Chicago 
rate  of  5.4  per  100,000  of  population  was  as  low  as  that  of 
any  large  city  in  the  country.  In  1916,  however,  while  the 
Chicago  rate  showed  a  slight  improvement,  being  5.2, 
both  Boston  and  New  York  showed  a  lower  rate  than 
Chicago.  An  unfortunate  accident,  which  resulted  in  the 
backing-up  of  the  sewage  in  the  territory  adjacent  to  the 
Sixty-eighth  Street  pumping  station  and  in  the  contami- 
nation of  the  wells  at  that  station,  caused  an  epidemic  of 
typhoid  in  the  district  supplied  by  it.  This  accounts  in 
part  for  the  failure  of  Chicago  to  attain  a  lower  rate. 
Officials  of  the  Chicago  Health  Department  report  a  rate 
of  approximately  1.76  for  1917,  which  they  say  is  about 
one-half  as  high  as  the  rate  of  either  New  York  or  Boston. 

The  use  of  chlorine  in  sterilizing  the  water,  which  was 
introduced  at  the  Sixty-eighth  Street  and  Lake  View  in- 
takes in  1912  and  1913,  and  was  extended  to  all  the 
pumping  stations  during  1915  and  1916,  has  been  an  im- 
portant factor  in  improving  the  condition  of  the  supply. 
In  view  of  this  and  of  the  fact  that  general  conditions  of 
sanitation  are  improving,  it  is  probable  that  a  further 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


97 


98  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

reduction  in  typhoid  cases  may  be  expected  in  future 
years.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  typhoid  death  rate  of 
Chicago  at  the  present  time  compares  favorably  with  that 
of  other  large  cities  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  of  course,  to  credit  the  lowering 
of  Chicago's  typhoid  rate  entirely  to  its  improved  water 
supply.  The  typhoid  rate,  which  is  influenced  also  by 
the  milk  supply,  the  general  sanitation  of  the  community, 
and  the  precautions  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
contagion  when  once  started,  has  been  declining  every- 
where, due  to  improvement  in  the  conditions  mentioned. 
It  is  claimed  by  the  Chicago  Health  Department  that  the 
more  rigid  enforcement  of  the  ordinance  requiring  the 
pasteurization  of  milk  has  played  an  important  part  in 
reducing  the  rate  in  this  City  in  recent  years. 

The  steady  decline  of  the  typhoid  death  rate  following 
the  completion  of  the  intercepting  sewer  systems  is  per- 
haps the  best  indication  of  the  success  which  has  attended 
Chicago's  efforts  to  prevent  the  pollution  of  the  lake 
water.  However,  the  still  further  reduction  of  the  death 
rate  since  the  introduction  of  the  chlorine  treatment  in 
1912  tends  to  show  that  these  efforts  have  not  been  en- 
tirely successful,  and  that  the  water  at  the  cribs  is  still 
contaminated  at  times.  This  conclusion  is  borne  out  also 
by  the  analysis  of  the  water  made  by  the  Health  Depart- 
ment. 

Under  present  conditions,  the  lake  water  at  Chicago  is 
exceptionally  good  a  large  part  of  the  time.  At  other 
times  it  is  badly  polluted  and  unfit  for  drinking  purposes 
unless  sterilized  or  otherwise  purified.  There  are  sev- 
eral well  defined  sources  of  contamination. 

1.  The  large  district  south  of  Eighty-seventh 
Street  known  as  the  " Calumet  region"  empties  its 
sewage  into  the  Calumet  River,  which  with  every 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  99 

notable  flood  is  flushed  into  the  lake.  It  is  said  that 
the  polluting  matter  discharged  from  the  Calumet 
River  materially  affects  the  purity  of  the  water  of 
Lake  Michigan  for  a  distance  from  the  river  mouth 
of  over  10  miles  in  every  direction,  depending  upon 
the  wind  and  the  currents  in  the  lake.  The  effect  of 
this  pollution  has  been  felt  for  many  years  at  the 
Sixty-eighth  Street  and  Edward  F.  Dunne  cribs, 
which  are  located  about  4|  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  The  Calumet- Sag  Channel,  heretofore  re- 
ferred to,  is  being  constructed  to  remedy  this  situa- 
tion. Experts  who  have  studied  the  subject  have 
expressed  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  Calumet- 
Sag  Canal  will  not  of  itself  prove  entirely  effective 
as  a  preventive  measure,  since  it  will  not  be  large 
enough  to  control  the  flood  flows  of  the  river. 

2.  Neighboring  cities  adjacent  to  Chicago  still 
empty  their  sewage  into  the  lake.  This  sewage  is 
subject  to  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and  of  the  lake  cur- 
rents created  by  the  winds,  and  undoubtedly  at  times 
affects  the  purity  of  the  water  supply.  The  water 
at  the  Lake  View  crib  is  perhaps  most  noticeably 
affected  by  this  source  of  pollution  at  the  present 
time.  The  north  shore  intercepting  sewer  system 
when  completed  will  probably  greatly  improve  the 
situation  in  this  respect.  However,  after  the  north 
shore  project  is  completed,  cities  and  villages  far- 
ther to  the  north,  and  even  cities  in  Wisconsin,  as 
well  as  the  population  rapidly  coming  into  being 
along  the  coast  line  of  Indiana,  will  continue  to  con- 
tribute their  share  to  the  increasing  impurities  in  the 
lake  water.  Studies  made  in  recent  years  have 
shown  that  the  harmful  effects  of  such  impurities 
are  not  always  confined  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of 


100  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  cities  contributing  them.  The  extent  to  which 
polluting  matter  may  spread  and  the  distance  which 
it  may  be  carried  by  the  winds  and  lake  currents  are 
not  definitely  known,  but  competent  authorities  have 
expressed  the  opinion  that  localities  even  twenty  or 
thirty  miles  from  the  point  of  entrance  of  large  quan- 
tities of  sewage  are  not  safe  places  from  which  to  de- 
rive water  for  domestic  use. 

3.  Since  the  opening  of  the  drainage  canal  in 
1900  the  normal  flow  of  the  Chicago  River  has  been 
away  from  the  lake.    It  is  a  fact  not  generally  appre- 
ciated, however,  that  at  times  the  current  of  the  river 
is  reversed  and  flows  directly  into  the  lake.  No  public 
record  of  this  movement  is  made,  but  it  occurs  be- 
cause sudden  barometric  changes  often  lower  the 
level  of  the  lake  quite  suddenly — so  suddenly  in  fact 
that  the  controlling  works  of  the  Sanitary  District 
canal  located  at  Lockport,  28  miles  away,  cannot  be 
effectively  adjusted  in  time  to  prevent  a  considerable 
outflow  of  contaminated  river  water  into  Lake  Michi- 
gan.   Mr.  John  W.  Alvord  informs  the  Bureau  that 
he  has  personally  observed  a  reversal  of  this  kind  on 
three  separate  occasions  within  the  last  eight  years. 

4.  The  general  increase  of  population  along  the 
lake  shore,  over  the  25  or  30  miles  of  lake  front 
which  is  now  thickly  inhabited,  has  undoubtedly  led 
to  increased  pollution  of  the  lake  waters  from  var- 
ious industries,  bathing  beaches,  and  other  minor 
causes.    That  this  is  true  is  well  shown  by  a  bacterial 
survey  made  by  the  Chicago  Health  Department 
some  years  ago,  which  survey  shows  that  objection- 
able bacteria  are  found  in  considerable  quantities 
immediately  along  the  shore  and,  in  gradually  dimin- 
ishing number,  much  farther  out  in  the  lake  than  it 
had  been  previously  supposed  they  would  be  found. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  101 

5.  It  has  been  the  practice  for  many  years  to 
dump  into  the  lake  dredgings  from  the  Chicago  River 
and  other  refuse  from  the  City.    Since  1910  the  Fed- 
eral Government  has  forbidden  dumping  within  eight 
miles  from  the  shore,  unless  the  material  is  placed 
behind  bulkheads  where  it  cannot  run  into  the  lake. 
A  City  ordinance,  also,  prohibits  any  dumping  within 
13  miles  from  shore.    City  authorities  are  devoting 
considerable  effort  to  enforcing  these  regulations, 
but  there  is  a  very  serious  doubt  as  to  whether  they 
are  at  all  times  complied  with.     Moreover,  even 
where  the  dumping  takes  place  outside  the  prohibited 
area,  refuse  matter  is  often  washed  from  the  decks, 
and  sometimes  from  the  holds,  of  the  scows  by  the 
waves  during  times  of  storm.    Refuse  similar  to  that 
observed  on  scows  and  in  the  lake  in  their  track  has 
been  caught  on  the  screens  over  the  intakes  at  the 
cribs. 

6.  The  several  thousand  lake  boats  entering  and 
leaving  the  Chicago  harbor  each  year,  many  of  which 
pass  in  close  proximity  to  the  Two-Mile  and  Carter 
H.  Harrison  cribs,  undoubtedly  contribute  pollut- 
ing matter  to  the  waters  in  the  vicinity  of  the  intakes 
of  these  cribs.    The  enforcement  of  sanitary  regula- 
tions as  to  the  disposition  of  sewage  and  refuse  from 
these  vessels,  especially  passenger  and  excursion 
steamers,  has  greatly  improved  conditions  in  this 
respect  during  the  past  few  years,  but  it  must  be  ob- 
vious that  this  form  of  pollution  is  not  and  cannot  be 
effectively  controlled.     One  of  the  dangers  arises 
from  vessels  taking  water  ballast  in  polluted  harbors 
and   subsequently   discharging  it  near  the   intake 
cribs. 

7.  Storms  frequently  stir  up  the  bottom  of  the 


102  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

lake,  dislodging  contaminating  matter  which  may 
have  been  deposited  there  or  which  has  collected 
there  from  natural  causes. 

The  Chicago  water  supply  is  not  polluted  at  all  times. 
In  fact  it  is  polluted  but  very  little  of  the  time.  No  one 
of  the  sources  of  pollution  above  described  is  continuous 
or  uniform.  Each  is  occasional  only,  depending  largely 
upon  weather  conditions  and  upon  accidents  of  naviga- 
tion. The  dangerous  conditions  usually  come  on  sud- 
denly and  quite  unexpectedly  and  may  disappear  slowly. 
The  degree  of  pollution  varies.  At  some  intakes  it  is 
worse  than  at  others. 

The  fact  that  such  pollution  is  accidental  and  occasional 
does  not  lessen  the  danger.  In  some  ways  it  tends  to 
increase  it,  since  it  may  produce  a  false  sense  of  security. 
The  public  should  understand  that  a  water  supply  is  to  be 
gauged  by  the  worst  conditions  which  arise  and  not  by  its 
average  purity,  and  that  it  is  not  sufficient  for  the  water 
to  be  free  from  contamination  the  greater  part  of  the 
time.  It  is  essential  that  it  be  pure  all  the  time.  A  water 
supply  polluted  on  but  four  or  five  days  in  a  year  may 
result  in  serious  epidemics.  Fortunately,  the  public 
officials  of  Chicago  realize  these  facts  and,  in  common 
with  authorities  of  a  large  number  of  cities,  are  attempt- 
ing to  safeguard  the  supply  against  occasional  pollution 
by  sterilizing  the  water  all  the  time. 

Turbidity 

The  lake  water  is  turbid  or  muddy  at  times.  Frequently 
it  is  noticeably  so,  and  after  storms  the  turbidity  often 
reaches  60  to  70  in  the  scale  recommended  by  the  Commit- 
tee on  Standard  Methods  of  Water  Analysis  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association.  This  is  ten  times 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  103 

the  degree  of  turbidity  which  is  considered  permissible 
for  the  best  water  supplies. 

Turbidity  is  due  to  the  stirring  up  of  the  bottom  of  the 
lake  by  storms.  The  extent  to  which  the  health  of  the 
community  may  be  affected  depends  upon  the  quantity  of 
bacterial  impurities  dislodged  with  the  other  sediment  at 
such  times.  Turbidity  may  or  may  not  be  a  public  menace 
on  that  ground,  but  it  always  makes  the  water  uninviting 
not  only  for  drinking  but  for  bathing  and  other  domestic 
uses.  As  a  result,  household  niters  are  frequently  used, 
while  many  persons  who  can  afford  to  do  so  buy  bottled 
water  for  drinking  purposes. 

So  far  as  bacterial  impurities  are  concerned,  they  can 
be  rendered  harmless  by  sterilizing  the  water  as  is  done 
at  present.  Sterilization,  however,  will  not  clarify  the 
water. 

The  Need  for  Further  Purification 

Notwithstanding  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
efforts  made  to  prevent  its  pollution,  the  lake  water  at 
Chicago  does  not  possess  the  degree  of  purity  which  is 
desirable.  While,  so  long  as  its  sterilization  is  continued, 
it  may  be  said  to  be  no  longer  a  serious  menace  to  the 
health  of  the  community,  on  the  ground  both  of  occa- 
sional pollution  and  of  turbidity,  it  is  below  the  standard 
which  a  city  of  the  importance  and  civic  ideals  of  Chicago 
should  set  for  its  water  supply. 

The  completion  of  the  north  shore  intercepting  sewers 
and  of  the  Calumet-Sag  Channel  project,  the  more  rigid 
enforcement  of  sanitary  regulations  concerning  lake  ves- 
sels entering  the  harbor,  and  the  further  restriction  of 
dumping  in  the  lake  should  still  further  reduce  pollution, 
but,  even  when  all  is  done  that  can  reasonably  be  done  to 
prevent  it,  there  will  still  remain  the  danger  of  chance  pol- 


104  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

lution  which  cannot  be  altogether  eliminated.  If  bacterial 
purity  alone  were  required,  the  continued  sterilization  of 
the  water  would  probably  meet  the  situation,  although  the 
treatment  of  the  water  with  chlorine  is  likely  to  render 
it  offensive  at  times  to  both  taste  and  smell.  The  un- 
pleasant taste  and  odor  now  frequently  present  in  the 
water  is  due  to  the  use  of  chlorine  gas  for  purification 
purposes.  As  previously  pointed  out,  however,  steriliza- 
tion by  means  of  chlorine  will  not  clarify  the  water.  It  is 
apparent,  therefore,  that  if  Chicago  is  to  have  water 
which  is  at  all  times  clean  and  wholesome  some  means  of 
purification  other  than  sterilization  must  be  adopted  to 
obtain  it. 

Location  of  Intake  Cribs  as  Related  to  Purity  of  Supply 

The  question  naturally  arises  as  to  whether  water  of 
the  requisite  degree  of  purity  can  be  obtained  by  locating 
the  intake  cribs  farther  out  in  the  lake. 

At  the  locations  of  the  present  cribs,  from  two  to  four 
miles  offshore,  the  depth  of  water  varies  from  25  to  40 
feet,  although  the  intake  ports  are  at  a  lesser  depth.  In- 
takes located  at  from  12  to  15  miles  offshore  would  be 
desirable  if  it  were  practicable  to  construct  them  that 
far  out,  since  at  that  distance  the  purest  water  in  the 
vicinity  of  Chicago  has  been  found,  and  at  that  distance 
also  there  is  a  depth  of  50  feet  or  more,  which  is  consid- 
ered desirable  in  order  to  avoid  turbidity.  There  is  no 
certainty,  however,  that  even  at  these  points  the  lake 
water  is  entirely  free  from  occasional  contamination. 
Hence,  the  results  to  be  obtained  by  moving  the  intakes 
might  not  be  entirely  satisfactory.  It  is  probable,  there- 
fore, that  in  any  event  the  City  ultimately  will  have  to 
filter  its  supply  to  avoid  such  pollution.  In  view  of  this, 
and  of  the  almost  prohibitive  cost  involved  in  extending 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  105 

the  tunnels  and  cribs  out  the  desirable  distance,  it  is 
considered  impracticable  to  make  such  extensions. 

Filtration 

So  far  as  the  Bureau  is  informed,  the  only  other  plan 
which  has  been  proposed  for  the  purification  of  the  Chi- 
cago supply,  so  as  to  eliminate  both  the  danger  of  water- 
borne  disease  and  of  turbidity,  is  filtration.  Messrs. 
Soper,  Watson,  and  Martin,  the  experts  who  made  the 
report  heretofore  referred  to  for  the  Chicago  Real  Estate 
Board,  were  unequivocal  in  their  opinion  that  purifica- 
tion in  this  case  means  filtration.  City  Engineer  Ericson 
has  publicly  stated  that  in  the  near  future  it  must  be 
resorted  to.  Mr.  Alvord  concurs  in  these  views  and  says 
that  few  intelligent  and  enlightened  cities  of  the  size  of 
Chicago  would  permit  the  municipality  to  serve  its  cus- 
tomers with  such  muddy  water  as  is  often  served  in  this 
City  for  many  weeks  after  storms. 

No  definite  plans  for  the  construction  of  filtration 
plants  have  been  prepared,  but  the  experts  above  men- 
tioned state  in  their  report  that  the  process  is  neither 
experimental  nor  novel,  and  that  it  is  entirely  practicable 
for  Chicago.  Mr.  Ericson 's  statement  that  in  the  near 
future  filtration  must  be  resorted  to  implies  of  course 
that  it  is  practicable.  Mr.  Soper  and  his  associates  sug- 
gested that  it  be  installed  at  first  upon  a  reasonably  small 
scale  where  most  needed,  and  that  it  subsequently  be 
extended  as  the  requirements  demand  so  as  ultimately  to 
protect  the  entire  supply.  They  pointed  out  that  "  filtra- 
tion will  not  do  away  with  the  need  of  exercising  reason- 
able care  in  the  disposal  of  the  sewage  and  other  waste 
in  such  localities  as  are  likely  to  affect  the  quality  of  the 
water  before  it  is  filtered, ' '  but  that  if  reasonable  precau- 
tions are  taken  to  keep  out  gross  pollution  filtration  will 
adequately  protect  the  water  supply. 


106  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Public  health  authorities  and  the  public  generally  are 
constantly  demanding  a  higher  standard  of  purity  for 
domestic  water  supplies,  and  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  people  of  Chicago  will  long  be  content  with  a  supply 
which  is  inferior  to  that  of  other  great  cities  of  the  world. 
It  seems  safe  to  predict,  therefore,  that  in  the  not  far 
distant  future  they  will  demand  better  water  than  is  now 
being  served  and  that  the  problem  of  a  really  pure,  clean, 
and  wholesome  water  supply  with  which  the  City  has 
been  struggling  since  its  earliest  days  will  be  finally 
solved  through  filtration. 


THE  ADEQUACY  OF  THE  SUPPLY 

To  render  efficient  service  a  water  works  should  fur- 
nish an  abundant  supply  of  water  for  domestic,  indus- 
trial, fire  protection,  and  other  public  purposes.  The 
pressure  under  which  the  water  is  delivered  should  be 
adequate  and  should  be  maintained  with  approximate 
uniformity  throughout  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day. 

The  unlimited  quantity  of  water  close  at  hand  greatly 
simplifies  Chicago's  problem  of  an  abundant  supply.  The 
low  and  almost  level  surface  of  nearly  the  entire  city 
is  unusually  favorable  also  for  the  transportation  of  the 
water  from  the  lake  to  the  premises  of  the  consumers. 
Notwithstanding  these  favorable  conditions,  the  Chicago 
Water  Works  has  never  been  able  to  meet  satisfactorily 
the  requirements  of  efficient  service.  Large  expenditures 
for  additional  tunnel  and  pumping  equipment  and  for  ex- 
tensive additions  to  the  distribution  system  have  served 
to  relieve  the  situation  temporarily  from  time  to  time, 
but  each  year  there  have  been,  and  there  still  are,  con- 
stantly recurring  complaints  of  a  shortage  of  water  and 
of  insufficient  pressure  in  various  sections  of  the  City. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  107 

Chicago  Pressures  Insufficient 

A  minimum  pressure  of  from  35  to  40  pounds  per 
square  inch  throughout  the  distribution  system  would 
probably  be  regarded  as  adequate,  although  the  Commit- 
tee on  Fire  Prevention  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire  Un- 
derwriters has  recommended  a  minimum  pressure  of  50 
pounds  during  periods  of  maximum  domestic  consump- 
tion. If  a  pressure  of  from  35  to  40  pounds  were  main- 
tained constantly  throughout  the  day,  it  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  supply  an  abundance  of  water  on  the  fourth  and 
fifth  floors  of  apartment  houses  and  on  the  fourth  floors 
of  most  buildings  used  for  industrial  purposes.  For  fire 
protection  there  should  be  a  sufficient  quantity  to  enable 
fire  engines  to  draw  their  supply  at  all  times  without 
taking  the  water  from  the  hydrants  under  suction. 

The  pressure  in  many  parts  of  the  City  is  considerably 
below  the  standard  indicated  above.  An  effort  is  made  to 
maintain  a  minimum  of  25  pounds,  but  it  is  frequently 
impossible  to  do  so. 

The  Staff  of  the  City  Council  Committee  on  Finance  in 
a  recent  report  (April,  1917)  estimated  the  pressure  in 
the  various  wards  as  follows : 

Ward  Pressure    Ward  Pressure  Ward  Pressure 

(Ibs.)  (Ibs.)  (Ibs.) 

1  25-31  13  19-22  25  21-33 

2  22-27  14  19-22  26  27-29 

3  26-28  15  16-19  27  12-36 

4  24-27  16  16-19  28  16-19 

5  23-25  17  17-19  29  12-23 

6  22-23  18  21-23  30  22-24 

7  30-31  19  22-25  31  23-25 

8  34-36  20  22-25  32  32-35 

9  37-50  21  18-20  33  13-27 

10  22-25  22          18-20  34        20-23 

11  22-25  23          18-20  35        18-20 

12  20-23  24          21-25 


108  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

It  will  be  noted  that  28  of  the  35  wards  show  a  mini- 
mum pressure  estimated  at  less  than  25  pounds  and  that 
a  minimum  of  less  than  20  pounds  is  shown  for  13  wards ; 
also  that  in  16  wards  the  maximum  pressure  is  estimated 
at  less  than  25  pounds. 

The  Bureau  of  Engineering  maintains  recording  pres- 
sure gauges  at  various  points  scattered  throughout  the 
distribution  system.  The  following  table  shows  the  aver- 
age pressure  registered  by  each  of  these  gauges  at  cer- 
tain hours  of  the  day  for  the  period  of  a  week  during  the 
months  of  February,  April,  and  July,  1917,  respectively. 
The  hours  selected  in  preparing  these  tables  represent 
approximately  the  hours  of  maximum  and  minimum  con- 
sumption. Likewise,  February  and  July  represent  per- 
iods of  maximum  midwinter  and  midsummer  consumption 
due  to  the  extensive  use  of  water  during  the  winter 
months  to  prevent  freezing  and  during  the  summer  months 
for  cooling  purposes.  The  readings  for  April  indicate 
the  situation  at  a  time  when  these  abnormal  conditions 
are  absent.  The  low  pressures  shown  for  8  P.  M.  in  July 
are  due  in  part  to  the  extensive  use  of  the  hose  at  that 
time  for  sprinkling  purposes. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  109 

Table  Showing  Average  Water  Pressures  at  Various  Points  Throughout 
the  City  of  Chicago  for  Certain  Periods  During  1917 


Location  of  Gauge 

Ele- 
vation 
Above 
Chicago 
Datum 

Average  Pressures* 

Lake  View  Pumping  Sta- 
tion**   

15.87 
10.49 
12.75 
32.70 
17.34 
26.23 
23.25 
16.21 

22.04 
15.85 
21.11 
16.46 
15.30 
16.24 

25.35 
15.27 

26.80 
15.16 
15.09 
19.93 
16.62 

24.68 
14.29 
16.60 
14.09 
14.20 

13.00 
22.56 
18.51 
12.10 
18.11 
15.88 
26.82 
7.96 
38.4 

Week 
Feb.  11-17, 
1917 

Week 
Apr.  22-28. 
1917 

Week 
July  29-Aug. 
4,  1917 

9A.M. 

3A.M. 

)  A.M. 

3A.M. 

9A.M. 

8  P.M. 

3A.M. 

35.4 

29.7 
26.4 
14.6 
23.4 
23 
21.1 

28 

18.1 
26 
14.3 
15.1 

29 
20.4 

25.1 
29.6 
23.3 
22.7 
25.7 

24.7 
21.1 
19 
19.3 
19.3 

35.4 
22.4 
31.7 
33.6 
20.9 
22.6 
19.7 
38.1 
11.1 

35.6 
31.1 
27.3 
17.2 
26 
26 
24.1 

29.4 

21.4 
30.1 
17.6 
18.9 

31.3 
24.4 

29.4 
33.4 
26.7 
27.1 
31 

26.6 
24.7 
24.4 
24.4 
22.4 

39.6 
28.1 
36.7 
33.8 
26.7 
27 
23.5 
41.9 
14.7 

38.1 
34 
29.4 
17.6 
27 
26.6 
25.6 
21.3 

27.9 
29.3 
21.9 
28.8 
19.7 
20.3 

31.1 
25.3 

29 
32.1 
28.7 
27 
31.4 

30.7 
27 
26.4 
25.3 
26.1 

42.4 
27.7 
35.7 
39.1 
28.4 
28.9 
25.4 
44.1 
18.1 

S6.6 
34.7 
33.1 
21 
29.9 
29.7 
30.1 
26.7 

31.1 
34.5 
26.7 
33 
21.9 
26 

33.1 
30.7 

35 
37.4 
34.3 
33.1 
37.7 

32.1 
34.9 
32.3 
30.1 
30.7 

45 
33.1 
40.4 
37.7 
35.3 
33.1 
30.4 
46.6 
22.7 

S8.6 
32.9 
26.9 
15 
24.9 
19.4 
22.1 
16.9 

27.8 
25.2 
18.5 
25.1 
12.1 
16.3 

31.1 
21.3 

24 
27.4 
23.5 
19.4 
27.4 

26.6 
22.3 
19.9 
17.3 
20 

41.5 
27.1 
32.4 
34.1 
23.6 
23.4 
18.3 
41.4 
12.8 

35.4 
29.4 
25.4 
11 
22 
15.7 
19.3 
17 

31.6 
31.2 
18 
29.6 
18 
17.5 

32.1 
24.7 

28.4 
32 
28 
21.7 
26.4 

29.6 
25.3 
22.1 
21 
23.7 

39.7 
28.3 
33 
32.7 
25.5 
22.7 
19.6 
40 
13.5 

S4.8 

32.6 
30.1 
18 
27.1 
25.7 
26.9 
23.7 

29.3 
30.5 
24.9 
30.6 
21 
21.6 

34.1 
29.5 

32.3 
34.7 
31.8 
28 
34.7 

29.1 
29.6 
29 
27.7 
27.1 

42.3 
31.1 
37.6 
34.4 
31.7 
28.4 
25.7 
44 
17.6 

1219  LaFayette  St  

2414  Cuyler  Ave.  .  . 

2322  Foster  Ave  

1545  Rosemont  Ave.  .  .  . 
7077  N.  Clark  St  

1529  Belmont  Ave  .  .  . 

2756  N.  Fairfield  Ave... 

Chicago  Ave.  Pumping  Sta- 
tion** .  . 

119  N.  Franklin  St  
522  Webster  Ave  

59  E.  South  Water  St.  .  . 
1129  W.  Chicago  Ave... 
1623  N.  Robey  St  

Harrison  St.  Pumping  Sta- 
tion**   

540  Washington  St  .  . 

Fourteenth  Street  Pumping 
Station**  ... 

14  W.  Taylor  St.  . 

23  W.  31st  St  

3444  Rhodes  Ave  

4600  Cottage  Grove  Ave 

Twenty-second  St.  Pump- 
ing Station**  

1618  33rd  Place  

1642  W.  47th  St  

43rd  St.  and  Center  Ave 
2258  W.  13th  St  

Sixty-eighth  St.  Pumping 
Station**  

6017  State  St.  . 

6245  Dorchester  Ave  .  .  . 
9321  S.  Chicago  Ave.  .  . 
5300  Wentworth  Ave.  .  . 
6244  Laflin  St  

3500  W.  60th  St  

7531  Dobson  Ave  
5601  W.  63rd  St.  . 

110 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


Table  Showing  Average  Water  Pressures  at  Various  Points  Throughout 
the  City  of  Chicago  for  Certain  Periods  During  1917— Concluded. 


Location  of  Gauge 

Ele- 
vation 
Above 
Chicago 
Datum 

Average  Pressures* 

Roseland    Pumping 
Station**  

27.20 
7.07 
13.89 
35.82 
20.13 
6.44 
13.91 
7.6 

29.20 
41.27 

29.48 
16.40 
17.25 
27.40 

31.16 
27.30 
39.85 
36.33 
34.74 

37.95 

37.00 
73.02 
60.86 

Week 
Feb.  11-17, 
1917 

Week 
Apr.  22-28, 
1917 

Week 
July  29-Aug. 
4,  1917 

9A.M. 

3  A.M. 

9A.M. 

3  A.M. 

9A.M. 

5  P.M. 

3A.M. 

47.7 
29.1 
47.3 
35.3 
31.9 
34.1 
26.3 
35.7 

55.8 
49 

25 
19.4 
17.1 
17.9 

26.7 
23.6 
13.7 
18.3 
31.7 

94 
55.1 

37 
29.4 
39.9 
26.7 
29.7 
33.7 
27.5 
35.9 

62.2 
46.1 

26.S 
22.9 
20.6 
21.6 

26.9 
25 
16.6 
22 
34.9 

12.9 
5S.1 

48 
37 
49.1 
37.1 
34.4 
40 
37 
40.7 

55.1 
48.4 

31.4 
24.6 
23 
24.4 

984 

26.3 
19.3 
22.6 
31.7 

14-4 

58.1 
25.6 
39.7 

37 
36.3 
41.4 
29 
33.1 
38.4 
34.6 
39.7 

54.9 
47.9 

33.7 
29.7 
29.3 
29.7 

33.1 
31.1 
24.8 
28.9 
42.9 

19.9 

55.4 
31.9 
40.7 

45 
30.6 
47 
36.9 
32 
38.1 
33 
40.3 

5S.1 
44.6 

S8.9 
21.6 
16.7 
18.4 

S6.S 
18.1 
17.6 
20 
27 

10 

55.6 
34.7 
31.1 

30 

29 
44 
34.4 
30.1 
37 
29.1 
39 

64 
43 

40.4 
20.9 
19.3 
21.1 

S5.8 
19.7 
15 
17.5 
21 

7 

45.3 
22.8 
22.4 

55 
30.6 
38.4 
26.4 
29.8 
35.3 
33 
39.1 

62.7 
45 

S5.S 
28.3 
25.1 
26 

S5.1 
26.4 
23.7 
25.4 
35.6 

16.1 

69 
35.7 
36 

13359  Burley  Ave  

623  E  108th  St  

12054  Wallace  St  

8630  Emerald  Ave  

10458  Hoxie  Ave  

13401  Indiana  Ave  

977  91st  St  

Washington        Heights 
Booster  System**  .... 

10400  Vincennes  Ave  .  .  . 

Central  Park  Ave.  Pump- 
ing Station**  

2111  S.  Hamlin  Ave.  .  .  . 
2444  Warren  Ave.  ..'.... 

4658  Lexington  St  

Springfield  Ave.  Pumping 
Station**  

1640  N.  Kostner  Ave  ... 
439  N.  Waller  Ave  

816  N.  Laramie  Ave.  .  .  . 
4837  Lipps  Ave  

Jefferson   Park   Pumping 
Station  Suction**  

Jefferson    Park   Pumping 
Station  Discharge**  .  .  . 
N.  Sayre  &  Medill  Aves. 
6030  Avondale  Ave  

Average  

32.6 

33.1 

25 

27.4 

29.5 

33 

25.5 

25.2 

29.9 

*  Pounds  per  square  inch. 
**  Not  included  in  average. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  111 

It  will  be  noted  that  during  each  of  the  three  periods 
indicated  in  the  foregoing  table,  with  few  exceptions,  all 
the  gauges  show  pressures  of  less  than  35  pounds,  which 
as  above  explained  is  the  minimum  which  should  be  main- 
tained to  insure  satisfactory  service. 

It  will  be  noted  also  that  the  average  pressure  at  9  A. 
M.  for  the  July  week  was  only  25.5  pounds.  For  the  Feb- 
ruary week  it  was  only  25  pounds.  During  these  periods 
many  of  the  gauges  registered  less  than  25  pounds  and 
several  of  them  less  than  20  pounds.  In  February  one- 
third  of  the  number  showed  less  than  20  pounds.  Even  dur- 
ing the  month  of  April  when  there  was  no  unusual  demand 
on  the  pumping  equipment  the  average  pressure  was  only 
29.5  pounds,  and  one-fourth  of  the  gauges  registered  less 
than  25  pounds.  Moreover,  the  pressures  shown  do  not  re- 
flect the  worst  conditions.  Most  of  the  gauges  are  located 
near  large  feeder  or  supply  mains.  At  greater  distances 
from  these  large  supply  mains  pressures  undoubtedly 
were  much  lower  than  those  indicated. 

The  Effect  of  Low  Pressures 

These  low  pressures  mean  that,  in  most  parts  of 
the  City,  water  is  not  being  supplied  above  the  third 
floors  at  any  time,  and  that  during  periods  of  maximum 
demand  there  is  a  failure  to  supply  third  floors.  In  some 
sections  of  the  City  the  service  is  not  satisfactory  and  un- 
interrupted even  on  the  lower  floors.  Consumers  living 
near  pumping  stations  or  adjacent  to  large  supply  mains 
usually  have  little  cause  for  complaint,  but  those  not  so 
situated  are  frequently  deprived  of  the  use  of  water. 

Fire  Protection  Service 

As  to  fire  protection,  in  most  parts  of  the  City  there  is 
enough  water  for  the  engines,  although  the  pressure  is 


112  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

not  always  adequate  and  there  is  some  danger  that  in 
case  of  any  considerable  fire  remote  from  a  large  main 
there  might  be  an  insufficient  supply.  The  Committee  on 
Fire  Prevention  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers in  a  bulletin  issued  March  28,  1916,  said  that  the 
margin  of  supply  available  for  fire  draft  was  ' '  small  and 
generally  insufficient."  This  is  particularly  applicable 
to  conditions  during  periods  of  maximum  midwinter  and 
midsummer  consumption. 

Separate  systems  of  high  pressure  distribution  mains 
and  pumping  equipment  for  fire  protection  purposes  in 
(1)  the  district  between  Chicago  Avenue  and  Twenty* 
second  Street,  east  of  Halsted  Street,  and  in  (2)  the 
stockyards  area  have  been  under  consideration  by  City 
officials  for  several  years,  but  no  definite  action  has  been 
taken  on  the  proposals  outlined.  The  Bureau  has  not 
undertaken  to  make  a  study  of  the  problems  involved  in 
providing  such  systems. 

Low  Pressures  Due  to  Excessive  Friction  Losses 

A  further  examination  of  the  pressures  shown  in  the 
foregoing  table  discloses  some  additional  facts  of  inter- 
esting significance. 

In  transporting  water  through  pipes,  a  certain  amount 
of  the  pressure  transmitted  to  it  at  the  pumping  station 
is  lost  through  the  frictional  resistance  of  the  pipes  to  the 
flowing  water.  Increasing  the  velocity  of  the  water  in- 
creases the  friction,  and  therefore  the  loss  of  pressure. 
Because  of  these  facts  the  pressure  at  any  point  distant 
from  the  pumping  station  is  at  all  times  less  than  the 
pressure  at  the  station ;  also,  as  velocities  increase  during 
the  times  of  the  day  when  the  consumption  of  water  is 
greatest,  pressures  at  outlying  points  fall,  unless  the 
pressure  at  the  station  is  raised  so  as  to  offset  the  addi- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  113 

tional  loss  of  pressure  on  the  mains  due  to  the  increased 
velocities  and  the  resulting  increase  of  friction  at  such 
times.  Consequently,  in  an  efficient  plant,  the  pressure 
at  the  station  is  raised  and  lowered  from  time  to  time  as 
the  amount  of  water  consumed  increases  and  decreases, 
the  station  pressure  reaching  its  maximum  during  the 
hours  of  maximum  consumption.  In  this  way  uniformity 
of  pressure  is  maintained  at  outlying  points. 

In  an  efficient  plant  the  highest  pressures  at  the  pump- 
ing stations  are  found  during  the  hours  of  greatest  conr- 
sumption.  It  will  be  noted  from  the  foregoing  table  that 
the  pressures  at  the  Chicago  stations  are  quite  generally 
lowest  at  such  times.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  as  the 
periods  of  greatest  consumption  approach  and  the  de- 
mand for  water  increases  it  is  drawn  out  of  the  mains 
faster  than  the  pumps,  working  at  full  capacity,  can  push 
it  into  the  mains.  As  a  result  it  is  impossible  to  prevent 
pressures  at  the  stations  from  falling  at  such  times, 
whereas  they  should  be  raised  to  offset  the  increasing 
pressure  losses  then  occurring.  Chicago  is  said  to  be  one 
of  the  few  cities  in  the  country  where  a  condition  of  this 
kind  prevails.  A  fall  in  pressures  at  the  pumping  sta- 
tions of  course  means  a  further  lowering  of  pressures 
throughout  the  distribution  system. 

From  the  foregoing  table  it  will  be  noted  also  that  be- 
tween the  pumping  stations  and  the  locations  of  the  out- 
lying gauges  variations  in  pressure  occur  which  fre- 
quently amount  to  more  than  10  pounds  and  sometimes 
to  more  than  15  pounds.  This  is  due  to  the  excessive 
velocities  of  the  water  flowing  through  the  mains.  Lower- 
ing these  velocities  would  reduce  pressure  losses  and 
would  thereby  automatically  increase  the  pressures  under 
which  water  is  delivered  to  consumers,  thus  greatly  im- 
proving the  service.  Excessive  velocities  are  unavoid- 


114  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

able,  however,  under  existing  conditions  because  the 
mains  are  required  to  transport  an  enormous  quantity  of 
water,  much  of  which,  as  hereinafter  pointed  out,  is  sub- 
sequently lost  through  waste  and  leakage.  When  com- 
pared with  pressures  maintained  in  July,  1916,  the  July, 
1917,  pressures  show  a  general  tendency  toward  an  in- 
crease at  the  pumping  stations  and  toward  a  decrease  at 
outlying  points.  The  pressure  losses  are  therefore  greater 
this  year  than  a  year  ago,  indicating  that  conditions  due 
to  waste  and  leakage  are  becoming  worse  rather  than  bet- 
ter despite  the  efforts  of  the  water  works  officials  to 
improve  them. 

Curtailment  of  Water  Waste  a  Paramount  Need 

The  conditions  just  described  account  for  the  present 
shortage  of  water  and  insufficient  pressures  which  result 
in  depriving  many  consumers  of  uninterrupted  and  sat- 
isfactory service. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  Chicago  supply  is  not  due  to  any 
lack  of  equipment.  The  pumping  machinery  and  the  dis- 
tribution mains  now  in  operation  are  sufficient  to  supply 
every  reasonable  requirement  of  a  city  of  twice  the  popu- 
lation of  Chicago.  The  difficulty  is  due  entirely  to  the 
vast  amount  of  water  which  is  lost  through  waste  and 
leakage. 

Reducing  the  amount  of  water  lost  through  waste  and 
leakage  will  reduce  the  amount  which  must  now  be  forced 
through  the  distribution  mains.  A  reduction  in  the 
amount  transported  through  the  mains  will  mean  lower 
velocities  and  accordingly  less  friction  and  reduced  losses 
of  pressure.  Thus  the  immediate  effect  of  materially  re- 
ducing waste  and  leakage  will  be  to  improve  immeas- 
urably the  present  service  by  increasing  existing  pres- 
sures. Eeducing  waste  and  leakage  will  also  result  in 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  115 

cutting  down  operating  expenses  and  in  eliminating  the 
necessity  for  many  future  extensions  of  the  plant,  thus 
effecting  very  large  economies.  Further,  the  amount  of 
water  wasted  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  prob- 
lem of  filtration  and  will  be  an  important  factor  in  the 
problem  of  sewage  disposal  if  Chicago  shall  in  the  future 
provide  for  such  disposal  by  other  than  the  dilution 
method  now  employed. 

The  curtailment  of  water  waste  and  leakage  therefore 
has  become  by  far  the  most  important  immediate  water 
works  problem  for  the  people  of  Chicago  to  deal  with. 

V.    WATER  WASTE  AND  LEAKAGE 

The  water  pumped  by  the  Chicago  Water  Works  every 
day  during  1916  averaged  645,000,000  gallons — a  volume 
sufficient  to  make  a  lake  20  feet  deep  and  a  mile  long  by 
one-sixth  of  a  mile  wide,  or  an  area  equivalent  to  that 
bounded  by  Madison,  Twelfth,  State,  and  Clark  Streets. 

It  is  conceded  by  every  person  familiar  with  the 
situation  that  this  pumpage  is  more  than  twice  the 
quantity  required  to  furnish  an  abundant  supply  for 
domestic,  business  and  other  uses.  Not  all  the  water 
pumped  is  used,  however.  In  fact  the  difference  between 
the  water  pumped  and  the  water  actually  used  is  very 
large.  It  has  been  roughly  estimated  that  from  one- 
third  to  one-half  of  it  is  used.  The  remaining  one-half 
or  two-thirds  is  frequently  said  to  be  wasted. 

"Use"  and" Waste"  Defined 

The  term  " wasted"  as  thus  used  is  likely  to  imply 
more  than  it  should.  This  is  to  be  regretted,  because  it 
tends  to  create  the  erroneous  impression  in  the  minds  of 
water  users  that  measures  designed  to  check  "waste" 


116  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

will  result  in  restricting  the  "use"  of  water.  Much  of 
the  opposition  to  waste  control  grows  out  of  this  erron- 
eous impression  which  unfortunately  quite  generally  pre- 
vails. 

The  "use"  of  water  as  the  term  is  used  in  this  report 
includes  every  legitimate  use  to  which  water  can  be  put 
for  domestic,  industrial,  and  municipal  purposes,  includ- 
ing water  for  sprinkling  streets  and  lawns,  extinguishing 
fires,  flushing  sewers,  and  every  other  purpose  for  which 
water  is  necessary  or  has  any  real  value. 

The  terms  "waste"  or  "waste  and  leakage"  as  used  in 
this  report  embrace  all  water  pumped  in  excess  of  that 
required  for  legitimate  use  as  above  denned. 

While  not  all  the  water  pumped  is  "used,"  neither  is  all 
the  water  lost  "wasted"  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term. 
Some  of  it  slips  back  through  the  pumps  and  so  does  not 
enter  the  distribution  mains;  some  of  it  escapes  through 
innumerable  leaks,  many  of  them  small,  in  cracked  or 
broken  mains,  through  imperfect  joints  in  the  mains, 
through  broken  or  defective  service  pipes,  through  worn- 
out  or  defective  shut-off  valves,  through  worn-out  pack- 
ing around  valve  stems,  and  through  blown-out  or  leaky 
hydrants;  some  of  it  is  lost  through  leaky  pipes  and 
plumbing  fixtures  on  the  premises  of  the  consumer;  some 
of  it  is  wasted  by  the  consumer  either  wilfully  or  through 
carelessness,  thoughtlessness  or  shiftlessness.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  water  pumped  is  actually  used. 

Reducing  Waste  Does  Not  Mean  Restricting  Use 

The  aggregate  loss  of  water  in  Chicago  from  the  sources 
above  mentioned  is  enormous.  The  extent  of  this  loss 
and  its  effect,  in  various  ways,  is  discussed  in  succeeding 
pages.  It  is  very  important,  however,  to  understand 
clearly  at  the  outset  of  this  discussion  that  preventing 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  117 

" waste"  means  reducing,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  loss 
of  water  through  leakage  and  other  causes,  and  that  it 
does  not  mean  curtailing  or  restricting  any  person  in  the 
"use"  of  as  much  water  as  he  can  use  or  is  accustomed 
to  use.  It  is  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  to  restrict 
the  "use"  of  water.  It  should  be  supplied  in  abundance 
and  its  "use"  encouraged.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  im- 
perative to  reduce  "waste"  and  "leakage"  to  a  minimum 
in  order  that  every  consumer  may  be  given  an  abundant 
supply  and  satisfactory  service. 

These  are  important  distinctions,  and  one  phase  of  the 
"waste"  problem  lies  in  convincing  consumers  that  re- 
ducing waste  and  leakage  will  not  curtail  their  accustomed 
use  of  water,  but  will  enhance  the  efficiency  of  the  serv- 
ice and  give  them  an  abundant  supply  without  in  most 
cases  increasing  water  bills.  When  this  can  be  done,  the 
opposition  which  now  often  arises  to  measures  for  the 
effective  control  of  waste  and  leakage  will  disappear. 

THE  WASTE  PROBLEM  IN  CHICAGO 
The  Situation  Prior  to  1900 

The  existence  of  an  excessive  amount  of  waste  and  leak- 
age was  recognized  long  prior  to  1900,  but  it  was  not  until 
about  that  time  that  it  began  to  cause  alarm  and  to  re- 
ceive the  serious  attention  of  City  officials. 

Prior  to  1889  the  water  supply  problem  had  been  large- 
ly a  question  of  increasing  the  water  works  plant  so  as 
to  meet  the  demands  of  a  rapidly  growing  population. 
The  annexations  of  that  year  (Hyde  Park,  Lake,  Lake 
View,  and  Jefferson — 126  square  miles  of  territory)  and 
to  some  extent  those  of  subsequent  years  brought  with 
them  another  problem  of  an  entirely  different  nature. 

The  City  of  Chicago  and  the  various  towns  and  cities 
which  were  annexed  to  it  had  each  added  to  its  system 


118  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

gradually,  without  any  thought  whatever  being  given  to 
the  possibility  of  the  various  systems  being  afterward 
joined  and  operated  as  a  single  system.  After  annexa- 
tion, therefore,  instead  of  one  intelligently  planned  and 
developed  system,  the  City  found  that  it  had  on  its  hands 
a  number  of  these  independent  systems,  each  more  or 
less  inadequate  even  for  the  district  which  it  was  designed 
to  serve. 

The  situation  in  which  the  City  thus  found  itself  con- 
tinued until  1897  when  work  was  commenced  on  compre- 
hensive plans  designed  to  remedy  the  unsatisfactory  con- 
ditions then  existing.  These  plans,  which  were  prac- 
tically completed  in  1900,  contemplated  the  rehabilitation 
of  these  various  detached  systems  and  their  unification, 
including  the  general  overhauling  of  the  pumping  sta- 
tion equipment,  which  had  become  badly  dilapidated,  the 
installation  of  several  additional  pumping  engines,  and 
the  laying  of  an  elaborate  system  of  large  mains  to  con- 
nect existing  mains,  equalize  pressures,  reduce  friction, 
and  correct  the  mistakes  due  to  lack  of  previous  syste- 
matic planning. 

In  commenting  on  the  situation  at  the  close  of  1898, 
at  which  time  the  plans  were  well  under  way,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works  in  his  annual  report  predicted 
that  when  the  Central  Park  Avenue  and  Springfield  Ave- 
nue stations,  then  under  construction,  were  completed 
the  plant  would  have  a  capacity  "sufficient  to  supply  a 
population  of  three  and  one-half  millions,  and  always 
have  a  sufficient  reserve  for  any  emergency  that  may 
present  itself." 

Developments  Since  1900 

The  two  stations  last  mentioned  were  put  into  service 
in  1900  and  1901,  respectively,  at  which  time  the  popula- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


119 


120  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

tion  was  estimated  at  1,775,000.  The  plant  then  had  a 
capacity  sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  nearly  twice 
that  number  of  people.  Yet  in  his  annual  report  of  the 
following  year  (1902)  the  City  Engineer  said: 

1 '  Our  expectations  of  an  abundant  and  satisfactory 
supply  of  water  after  the  completion  of  many  addi- 
tions to  the  water  works  system  in  the  last  few  years 
have  hardly  been  verified.  *  *  *  There  is  a  con- 
stantly growing  demand  for  a  greater  supply  of  wa- 
ter. *  *  *  The  department  must  continue  to  in- 
crease the  capacity  unless  the  indisputable  fact  of  a 
steadily  growing  and  unnecessary  waste  and  leakage 
is  recognized  and  by  systematic  efforts  eliminated. ' ' 

What  is  even  more  significant,  however,  is  that  the 
whole  development  of  the  system  since  that  time  has  been 
marked  principally  by  the  efforts  of  the  City  Engineer 
and  his  assistants  to  cope  with  this  constantly  increasing 
demand  due  largely  to  a  steadily  increasing  waste  and 
leakage.  Since  1901  the  capacity  of  the  plant  and  the 
average  amount  of  water  pumped  daily  have  nearly  dou- 
bled, while  the  population  has  increased  only  about  forty 
per  cent  and  is  even  now  far  short  of  three  and  one-half 
millions.  And  yet  the  demand  for  more  water  is  still  in- 
sistent and  further  large  additions  to  the  system  are  con- 
templated. 

The  following  table  shows  the  increase  in  population, 
in  total  average  daily  consumption,  and  in  average  daily 
consumption  per  capita  (per  person)  from  year  to  year 
since  1901. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


121 


Table  Showing  Population,  Total  Average  Daily  Consumption,  and 

Average  Daily  Consumption  per  Capita  of  Chicago  for 

Years  1901  to  1916  (') 


Year 

Population* 

Average  Daily 
Consumption** 

Average 
Daily 
Consumption 
per  Capita** 

Number 

Percentage 
of  Increase 
Since  1901 

Gallons 

Percentage 
of  Increase 
Since  1901 

Gallons 

1901 

1,776,236 

342,901,000 

193.0 

1902 

1,824,906 

2.7 

358,179,000 

4.4 

196.3 

1903 

1,873,576 

5.5 

376,090,000 

9.6 

200:7 

1904 

1,922,266 

8.2 

399,065,000 

16.3 

207.6 

1905 

1,970,936 

10.9 

410,930,000 

19.8 

208.5 

1906 

2,019,606 

13.7 

437,059,000 

27.4 

216.4 

1907 

2,068,276 

16.4 

455,194,000 

32.7 

220.1 

1908 

2,116,946 

19.2 

469,282,000 

36.8 

221.7 

1909 

2,165,616 

21.9 

480,905,000 

40.3 

222.0 

1910 

2,214,286 

24.6 

518,579,000 

51.2 

234.2 

1911 

2,262,956 

27.4 

507,332,000 

47.9 

224.2 

1912 

2,345,315 

32.0 

551,324,000 

60.6 

235.1 

1913 

2,372,000 

33.5 

577,860,575 

68.5 

243.6 

1914 

2,393,325 

34.8 

613,323,000 

78.8 

254.2 

1915 

2,447,000 

37.7 

606,707,671 

76.9 

248.0 

1916 

2,491,933 

40.2 

645,189,313 

88.1 

258.9 

(1)  Compiled  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  City  Engineer. 
*  Estimated  from  U.  8.  Government  Census. 
**  Consumption  by  plunger  displacement,  no  allowance  being  made  for  pump  slippage. 


Consumption  of  Water  in  Chicago  Excessive 

The  average  daily  consumption  per  capita  is  the  unit 
generally  used  in  considering  the  reasonableness  of  the 
amount  of  water  supplied  to  a  community.  A  per  capita 
consumption  of  193  gallons,  such  as  existed  in  Chicago 
in  1901,  is  very  high  and  is  conceded  by  water  works  au- 


122  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

thorities  to  indicate  excessive  waste  and  leakage.  It  will 
be  noted,  however,  that  in  the  fifteen  years  which  have 
since  intervened,  Chicago's  per  capita  consumption  has 
increased  from  193  gallons  to  259  gallons  per  day.  Obvi- 
ously, therefore,  the  waste  and  leakage,  which  in  1901  had 
begun  to  cause  alarm  in  official  circles,  is  very  much 
greater  today. 

The  rate  of  per  capita  consumption  varies  widely  in 
different  cities,  the  variations  being  due  in  a  large  meas- 
ure to  the  amount  of  water  used  for  industrial  and  busi- 
ness purposes  and  to  the  amount  lost  through  waste  and 
leakage.  In  large  industrial  centers  like  Chicago  a  per 
capita  consumption  of  from  100  to  125  gallons  per  day 
may  be  expected,  provided  waste  and  leakage  are  kept 
under  effective  control.  In  cities  of  a  largely  residential 
character  a  much  lower  rate  will  ordinarily  be  found. 

The  following  table  shows  the  estimated  population, 
the  total  average  daily  consumption,  the  daily  per  capita 
consumption,  and  the  percentage  of  services  metered  for 
a  number  of  American  cities,  arranged  in  the  order  of  per 
capita  consumption.  The  figures,  which  were  obtained 
directly  from  officials  of  the  various  cities,  are  for  the 
year  1916. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  amount  of  water  pumped  in 
Chicago  is  14  per  cent  greater  than  the  entire  supply  of 
the  City  of  (Greater)  New  York,  the  population  of  which 
is  more  than  double  the  population  of  Chicago ;  also  that 
the  per  capita  consumption  of  Cleveland  is  113  gallons, 
and  that  of  Milwaukee  118  gallons.  These  figures,  which 
like  all  the  other  figures  in  the  table  cover  not  only  water 
"used"  but  water  lost  through  " waste"  and  "leakage", 
are  in  striking  contrast  with  Chicago's  per  capita  of 
259  gallons  and  indicate  approximately  the  amount  of 
preventable  waste  and  leakage  in  the  Chicago  system. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  123 

Both  Cleveland  and  Milwaukee  are  lake  cities  and  impor- 
tant industrial  centers  in  which  conditions  of  consump- 
tion are  similar  to  those  in  Chicago. 


Table  Showing  Water  Consumption  Statistics 

of  American  Cities 

1916 


City 

Estimated 
Population 

Total 
Average 
Daily 
Consumption 
(gallons)* 

Average 
Daily 
Consumption 
per  Capita 
(gallons) 

Percentage 
of  Services 
Metered 

Des  Moines,  Iowa  
Providence,  R.  I  

105,000 
284,400 

6,300,000 
18,025,276 

60 
66 

98.5 
93 

Oak  Park,  Ills  

33,000 

2,260,000 

70  6 

100 

New  Orleans,  La  

378,000 

28,000,000 

75 

100 

Madison,  Wis.  .  .  . 

32050 

2480000 

77  4 

99  8 

Atlanta,  Ga  

200,000 

17,780,746 

89 

100 

Kansas  City,  Mo.  .  . 

380000 

34000000 

89  5 

80 

Columbus,  Ohio  .  . 

216687 

19  617  448 

90  5 

96  1 

Omaha,  Neb  

180000 

17,150  000 

95 

87  6 

New  York,  N.  Y.  .  .  . 

5,602000 

566,200  000 

101 

26  8 

Boston,  Mass  

762,700 

80,358  800 

105 

66 

Springfield,  Mass  

106,280 

11,260,000 

106 

97  7 

Cleveland,  Ohio  

845,000 

95,672,973 

113  2 

98.4 

Milwaukee,  Wis.  .  .  . 

440000 

54  885  366 

118 

99 

Cincinnati,  Ohio  

415,000 

52,400,000 

126.3 

69 

St.  Louis,  Mo  

755,000 

97,712  000 

130 

7  1 

Washington,  D.  C  

364,088 

49,698  000 

136.5 

77 

Los  Angeles,  Cal  

533,535 

74,694  900 

140 

88 

Detroit,  Mich  

781  133 

131  654  068 

168  5 

36 

Philadelphia,  Pa  

1,700000 

300000000 

176 

15 

Chicago,  Ills  

2,491,933 

645,189,313 

258  9 

6.9 

Buffalo,  N.  Y  

486,000 

159,838,036 

329 

5 

*  Based  on  plunger  displacement,  no  allowance  being  made  for  slippage. 


124  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  WATER  PUMPED  IN  CHICAGO 

No  data  exist  showing  definitely  what  becomes  of  the 
water  pumped  in  Chicago — how  much  of  it  is  used  in  the 
industries,  how  much  is  used  for  domestic  purposes,  how 
much  goes  to  public  uses  or  how  much  is  lost  through 
leakage,  waste  and  other  causes.  Where  metering  pre- 
vails to  such  a  limited  extent  as  it  does  in  Chicago,  it  is 
practically  impossible  to  obtain  definite  data  of  this  sort. 
However,  both  the  investigations  of  the  Chicago  city  au- 
thorities and  the  experience  of  other  cities  make  it  pos- 
sible to  approximate  what  becomes  of  the  Chicago  sup- 
ply. 

Estimate  of  City  Engineer 

As  a  result  of  water  waste  surveys  conducted  several 
years  ago,  Mr.  John  Ericson,  the  City  Engineer,  conclud- 
ed that  the  water  actually  "used"  amounted  to  102  gal- 
lons per  day  per  capita,  distributed  as  follows :  47  gal- 
lons (registered)  to  meter  consumers,  40  gallons  to  flat 
rate  consumers,  10  gallons  free  service,  5  gallons  passing 
through  meters  and  used,  but  not  registered  by  the  me- 
ters. 

Both  Milwaukee  and  Cleveland,  which  as  heretofore 
pointed  out  are  lake  cities  in  which  conditions  of  con- 
sumption are  similar  to  those  in  Chicago,  report  the  total 
amount  of  water  "used"  as  equivalent  to  a  daily  per 
capita  of  approximately  96  gallons.  An  estimate  of  102 
gallons  for  Chicago  would  therefore  seem  to  be  large 
enough  to  cover  the  water  actually  "used"  for  all  pur- 
poses. 

Consumption  Classified  According  to  Uses 

Water  consumption  is  also  sometimes  classified  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  various  purposes  for  which  water  is 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  125 

used,  such  as  industrial,  commercial,  domestic,  and  mu- 
nicipal (public)  uses. 

Definite  statistics  giving  such  information  cannot  be 
obtained  for  Chicago  under  present  conditions,  and  the 
following  attempt  to  classify  the  Chicago  consumption 
on  such  a  basis  must  of  necessity  be  predicated  on  the 
exceedingly  meager  data  available  so  far  as  this  City  is 
concerned  and  upon  the  general  experience  of  other  com- 
munities. 

Industrial  Consumption 

The  total  amount  of  water  accounted  for  by  meters  in 
Chicago  during  1916  was  equivalent  to  a  daily  per  capita 
consumption  of  52  gallons.  Six  hundred  of  the  larger 
industrial  and  commercial  consumers  now  use  more  than 
half  of  this  metered  supply  and  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  remainder  is  used  for  industrial  and  commercial  pur- 
poses. The  proportion  of  the  metered  supply  used  by 
domestic  consumers  is  relatively  small.  It  may  safely 
be  assumed,  therefore,  that  the  total  amount  of  water 
used  for  industrial  and  commercial  purposes  is  approxi- 
mately the  same  as  the  total  metered  supply,  or  about 
50  gallons  per  day  per  capita.  The  fact  that  a  part  of  the 
metered  supply  is  used  for  domestic  purposes  is  par- 
tially offset  by  the  fact  that  not  all  the  industrial  and 
commercial  consumption  is  metered. 

Domestic  Consumption 

The  amount  of  water  required  for  domestic  purposes 
is  variously  estimated  by  water  works  authorities  at  an 
average  of  from  35  to  45  gallons  per  day  per  capita.  This 
allowance  includes  a  sufficient  supply  for  all  purposes  in 
and  about  dwelling  and  apartment  houses,  including  wa- 
ter for  sprinkling  lawns  and  unpreventable  waste  and 


126  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

leakage.  Within  a  comparatively  few  years  much  lower 
estimates  were  prevalent,  but  the  requirements  of  better 
living  conditions  and  the  more  general  installation  of  fa- 
cilities for  using  water  have  resulted  in  a  general  in- 
crease in  domestic  consumption.  The  Committee  of  the 
City  Club  [of  Chicago]  on  Water  Waste,  Prof.  Edward 
W.  Bemds,  chairman,  in  a  report  made  in  1915  placed 
the  amount  required  for  domestic  uses  at  35  gallons 
per  capita  per  day.  Milwaukee  reports  a  daily  per 
capita  use  of  36.25  gallons  in  1916  for  dwellings,  offices, 
retail  commercial  establishments,  stores,  and  other  places 
where  water  is  not  used  primarily  for  power  or  indus- 
trial purposes.  Cleveland  in  1914  (the  last  year  for  which 
a  report  is  available)  accounted  for  a  total  per  capita 
use  of  96  gallons.  Making  allowance  for  its  large  indus- 
trial and  business  consumption  and  for  the  water  used 
for  public  purposes,  the  domestic  consumption  probably 
was  less  than  40  gallons.  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  one  of  Chi- 
cago's  suburbs  (population  33,000)  in  which  high  class 
dwellings  and  apartment  houses  predominate  and  where 
there  is  a  large  quantity  used  for  sprinkling  lawns,  in 
1915  (the  last  year  for  which  the  information  is  avail- 
able) reported  a  per  capita  use  of  42  gallons  for  domestic 
purposes. 

An  average  of  40  gallons  per  capita  per  day  is  there- 
fore probably  ample  for  domestic  purposes  in  Chicago. 
Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  exclusively  "domestic 
use"  of  water  in  Chicago  can  exceed  that  amount.  Cer- 
tainly 45  gallons  per  capita  would  cover  every  require- 
ment and  provide  an  abundant  supply. 

Municipal  Consumption 

Municipal  consumption  includes  water  used  for  public 
buildings,  schools,  charitable  institutions,  street  washing 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  127 


DIAGRAMS    BASED    UPON    THE 

ESTIMATED  DISTRIBUTION  or  WATER  PUMPED 
IN  CHICAGO  IN  1916 


-WASTE    AND    LEAKAGE- 


CHKMO  iwuu  w  mtuc  cmoMcr 


128  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

and  sprinkling,  fires,  public  comfort  stations,  flushing 
sewers  and  water  mains,  public  baths,  parks  and  foun- 
tains, testing  meters,  and  other  public  uses.  There  are 
practically  no  data  to  show  how  much  water  is  used  for 
such  purposes  in  Chicago,  but,  if  properly  controlled, 
seven  gallons  per  day  per  capita  would  probably  be  suffi- 
cient. 

Assuming,  therefore,  that  the  maximum  amount  of 
water  used  is  equivalent  to  a  daily  average  of  102  gal- 
lons per  capita — 50  gallons  for  industrial  and  commercial 
uses,  45  gallons  for  domestic  consumption,  and  7  gallons 
for  public  purposes — the  amount  lost  through  waste  and 
leakage  in  1916  was  equivalent  to  157  gallons  a  day  per 
capita.*  This  was  more  than  60  per  cent  of  all  the  water 
pumped.  As  hereafter  pointed  out,  of  the  157  gallons 
per  capita  that  was  lost  134  gallons  could  have  been 
saved. 

WASTE  AND  LEAKAGE 

The  water  lost  through  waste  and  leakage  may  be  di- 
vided into  two  general  classes,  each  of  which  may  in  turn 
be  further  sub-divided  as  follows: 

Water  Lost  in  Delivery 

I.    Water  lost  in  delivery  through 

1.  Pump  slippage 

2.  Leaks  in  the  distribution  system 

(a)  breaks  in  mains 

(b)  leaks  in  pipe  joints,  due  to  defective 

calking,  settlement  of  ground,  in- 
terference by  other  excavations,  or 
electrolysis 

"Average  daily  pumpage  per  capita   (gallons)   259 — 102=157.     See 
table,  p.  121. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  129 

(c)  leaks  in  mains  due  to  small  cracks  and 

other    imperfections   and    to    the 
effects  of  electrolysis 

(d)  blown-out   and   leaky   hydrants    and 

small  leaks  around  valve  stems 

(e)  service  pipes  leaking  or  broken  off  at 

connection  with  main 

(f)  worn-out  or  defective   service  pipes, 

many  of  which  have  been  installed 
but  never  used 

(g)  leaks  around  defective  service  cocks 

(at  buffalo  boxes) 

(h)     service  pipes  abandoned  without  curb 
ends  being  properly  closed. 

Water  Lost  on  Premises 

II.    Water  lost  on  premises  through 

1.  Leaky  service  pipes  on  premises 

2.  Leaky  plumbing  pipes  often  due  to  careless 

or  defective  work 

3.  Leaky  plumbing  fixtures 

(a)  leaky  faucets 

(b)  leaky  water  closets — ball  and  stop 

(c)  water  closets  run  continuously — inten- 

tionally 

(d)  old-fashioned  hopper  closets 

(e)  frozen  service  pipes  or  plumbing 

4.  The  open  faucet 

5.  Leaks  in  tanks 

6.  Leaks  in  automatic  sprinkler  systems 

7.  Leaks  in  hydraulic  elevators. 

Apparent  Losses 

In  addition  to  the  water  actually  lost,  there  is  also  an 
apparent  loss  due  to  water  being  stolen  through  illicit 
connections  and  by  building  contractors,  or  through  auto- 


130  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

matic  sprinkler  systems  where  they  are  not  under  meter, 
and  due  also  to  the  unreported  use  of  water  for  washing 
and  sprinkling  streets,  for  extinguishing  fires,  for  insur- 
ance tests,  for  flushing  mains,  for  filling  new  mains,  for 
emptying  and  filling  mains  for  repairs,  etc.,  and  for  flood- 
ing trenches.  Much  of  the  water  used  for  these  latter 
purposes  can  and  should  be  reported  and  accounted  for 
as  consumption  for  " municipal"  purposes,  but  under  the 
most  favorable  conditions  it  is  inevitable  that  some  will 
not  be  accounted  for  and  will  be  attributed  to  waste  and 
leakage. 

Under-Registration  of  Meters 

A  still  further  apparent  loss  is  due  to  water  passing 
through  meters  without  being  registered.  Under  favor- 
able conditions  the  water  which  the  consumer  receives 
and  uses  but  which  is  not  registered  may  be  estimated  at 
about  3  per  cent  of  his  total  supply.  However,  in  dis- 
cussing preventable  and  unpreventable  waste  and  leakage 
in  this  report  the  apparent  loss  due  to  under-registra- 
tion  of  meters  has  been  ignored  because  it  is  believed 
that  a  per  capita  allowance  of  102  gallons  is  ample  to 
cover  all  water  "used"  whether  registered  by  the  meters 
or  not.  In  the  consideration  of  what  proportion  of  the 
"used"  water  would  furnish  a  basis  for  fixing  charges, 
the  tendency  of  meters  to  under-register  would  of  course 
be  taken  into  account,  although  when  meters  are  tested 
periodically  the  amount  is  so  small  that  even  in  that  con- 
nection it  is  not  of  much  practical  importance.  Recog- 
nizing the  fact  that  meters  generally  do  under-register 
is  useful  principally  in  helping  officials  to  account  so  far 
as  possible  for  water  pumped  and  thereby  to  detect  and 
check  the  loss  of  water  which  cannot  be  accounted  for. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  131 


PREVENTABLE  AND  UNPREVENTABLE  WASTE  AND  LEAKAGE 

It  is  not  practicable  to  distribute  water  without  some 
losses.  An  allowance  must  be  made  for  pump  slippage* 
and  some  leakage  in  the  distribution  mains  and  service 
pipes  is  unavoidable.  Therefore,  the  waste  and  leakage 
in  the  Chicago  system  cannot  be  entirely  prevented.  A 
very  large  part  of  the  loss  due  to  waste  and  leakage  can 
be  eliminated,  however. 

Pump  Slippage 

The  City  Engineer  in  his  annual  report  for  1916  esti- 
mates pump  slippage  at  3.62  per  cent  of  the  pumpage. 
This  is  a  very  low  figure  and  shows  a  material  reduction 
when  compared  with  estimates  of  1914  and  prior  years. 

In  order  to  keep  pump  slippage  at  a  minimum  it  is 
essential  that  there  be  sufficient  reserve  equipment  so 
that  when  a  pump  shows  excessive  slippage  it  may  be 
shut  down  temporarily  and  repaired.  Under  present 
conditions  of  waste  and  leakage  this  cannot  always  be 
done.  Notwithstanding  the  addition  of  several  reserve 
pumps  within  the  last  few  years,  the  capacity  of  the  Chi- 
cago plant  is  so  taxed  during  periods  of  high  pumpage 
as  to  necessitate  keeping  pumps  in  operation  after  the 
slippage  becomes  several  times  the  practicable  minimum. 

In  view  of  these  conditions  it  may  be  seriously  ques- 
tioned whether  the  actual  pump  slip  at  the  present  time 
is  not  considerably  in  excess  of  3.62  per  cent.  It  is  be- 
lieved, however,  that  with  sufficient  reserve  equipment 

*The  capacity  of  a  pump  is  determined  by  the  maximum  amount 
of  water  which  it  is  capable  of  delivering  with  each  stroke  of  the 
plunger.  In  practice,  this  maximum  is  frequently  not  delivered  into 
the  distribution  mains  on  account  of  leaky  pump  valves  through  which 
the  water  "slips"  back  into  the  pump  wells.  The  difference  between 
the  capacity  of  the  pump  and  the  amount  of  water  which  it  actually 
pushes  into  the  mains  is  called  "pump  slippage." 


132  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

pump  slip  can  be  kept  down  to  5  per  cent,  or  approxi- 
mately 6  gallons  per  day  per  capita.  Adding  reserve 
equipment  does  not  of  course  mean  adding  more  pumps. 
The  plant  is  now  overbuilt  for  every  reasonable  require- 
ment. What  is  needed  is  a  condition  of  affairs  under 
which  more  of  the  present  pumps  can  be  utilized  for  re- 
serve. Such  a  condition  can  readily  be  brought  about 
by  reducing,  through  the  elimination  of  waste  and  leak- 
age, the  amount  of  water  to  be  pumped. 

Leakage  in  the  Distribution  System 

There  are  no  definite  data  as  to  what  part  of  the  total 
loss  through  leakage  is  made  up  of  the  leakage  in  the 
distribution  system,  although  the  latter  is  known  to  be 
excessive.  The  water  pipe  extension  division  reports  that 
surveys  made  in  1916  on  76  miles  of  mains  indicate  a  loss 
of  from  five  to  ten  per  cent  from  this  source.  The  leak- 
age in  the  distribution  system  cannot  be  readily  separated 
from  the  water  delivered  to  the  premises  of  consumers, 
because  the  stop  cocks  on  the  service  pipes  at  the  curb 
have  fallen  into  disuse  to  such  an  extent  that  the  serv- 
ices cannot  be  shut  off  during  tests. 

Leakage  in  the  distribution  system  is  due  principally 
to  defective  mains  and  old  service  pipes.  In  discussing 
conditions  found  in  connection  with  the  extensive  waste 
surveys  conducted  several  years  ago,  the  City  Engineer 
in  a  report  dated  November  18,  1911,  said : 

1  *  The  loss  from  defective  street  mains  is  due  main- 
ly to  joint  leakage,  electrolysis,  and  occasionally  to 
broken  pipes.  The  joint  leakage  is  found  to  be  com- 
paratively small,  but  the  losses  due  to  electrolysis 
are  thought  to  be  quite  serious.  The  leakage  caused 
by  electrolysis  is  confined  to  sections  or  zones  and 
is  not  believed  to  be  serious  over  the  general  area  of 
the  city. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  133 

"The  most  important  underground  leakage  found 
is  due  to  the  old  and  unused  and  abandoned  service 
pipes  in  the  streets,  that  have  opened  or  given  way 
under  pressure.  The  reason  for  this  loss  may  be 
understood,  when  we  stop  to  consider  the  great  num- 
ber of  such  service  connections  and  the  constant 
changes  and  liability  to  damage  that  service  pipes 
are  subject  to,  after  installation. 

"When  a  water  main  is  laid  or  extended  a  service 
pipe  is  laid  every  twenty-five  feet  on  both  sides  of 
the  street.  As  the  property  along  the  street  is  im- 
proved, some  of  these  services  are  connected  up,  but 
a  great  many  of  them  are  often  never  used.  Later 
on,  those  in  use  are  frequently  replaced  with  larger 
ones.  The  buffalo  boxes  at  the  curb  or  walk,  which 
were  installed  to  control  the  services,  very  often  dis- 
appear with  street  improvements,  or  for  other  rea- 
sons, so  that  the  service  pipe  cannot  be  located.  Un- 
fortunately when  a  service  pipe  begins  to  leak  the 
water  usually  finds  its  way  to  the  sewer  instead  of 
showing  on  the  surface  of  the  street  and  the  loss 
goes  on  indefinitely." 

The  conditions  above  described  are  believed  to  repre- 
sent the  present  situation  fairly  well.  The  thousands 
of  old,  unused  and  abandoned  service  pipes  present  the 
most  serious  difficulty.  Settlement  of  the  ground  has 
caused  some  of  them  to  break  off  at  the  main ;  some  have 
given  way  under  pressure ;  others  are  leaking  at  the  stop 
cocks ;  still  others  which  were  once  in  use  have  been  aban- 
doned, the  curb  ends  being  closed  not  by  soldering  but 
by  hammering  them  together.  Later  these  abandoned 
ends  have  opened  under  pressure,  thus  permitting  the 
water  to  run  continuously. 

Leaks  in  mains  and  services  cannot  be  entirely  elimi- 
nated. It  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  find  many  of  the 
smaller  ones,  and  even  if  located  it  would  not  pay  as  a 
matter  of  economy  to  uncover  the  pipes  and  repair  them. 

The  larger  leaks  can  be  located  and  stopped,  however, 


134  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

and  in  that  way  one  of  the  most  important  items  of 
waste  can  be  eliminated.  Milwaukee  (1916)  has  reduced 
leakage  of  this  sort  to  approximately  17  gallons  per 
capita  per  day,  and  Cleveland  (1914)  reported  a  loss 
therefrom  of  approximately  10.7  gallons  per  capita.  It 
is  believed  that,  if  a  systematic  effort  is  made,  in  Chi- 
cago the  leakage  from  this  source  can  be  reduced  so  as 
not  to  exceed  17  gallons  per  day  per  capita. 

Waste  and  Leakage  on  Premises 

Waste  and  leakage  on  consumers'  premises,  the  prin- 
cipal causes  of  which  have  been  heretofore  indicated 
(page  129),  can  be  practically  eliminated.  The  number 
of  people  who  wilfully  waste  water  and  who  permit  it 
to  leak  away  through  defective  plumbing  pipes  and  fix- 
tures is  very  large.  Each  consumer  feels  that  the  amount 
of  water  lost  on  his  premises  is  so  small  as  not  seriously 
to  affect  the  amount  pumped  and  therefore  often  makes 
little  or  no  effort  to  check  the  waste  and  the  leaks  so 
long  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  his  getting  sufficient 
water  for  his  needs.  With  many  other  consumers  pur- 
suing the  same  policy  the  aggregate  loss  becomes  very 
great. 

Wilful  waste  should  of  course  be  checked,  and  leakage 
from  defective  plumbing  should  be  stopped  by  requiring 
consumers  to  keep  their  plumbing  and  fixtures  in  repair. 
Effecting  these  results  so  far  as  practicable  is  the  essence 
of  the  waste  problem  as  related  to  the  premises  of  con- 
sumers. 

Where  premises  are  under  effective  waste  control,  the 
inconsequent  waste  and  leakage  which  cannot  be  pre- 
vented may  for  practical  purposes  be  regarded  as  a  part 
of  the  water  used,  and  therefore  need  not  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  making  an  allowance  for  unpreventable 
waste  and  leakage. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


135 


o 

CD 


136  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

The  Extent  of  Preventable  Waste  and  Leakage 

An  allowance  of  23  gallons  for  pump  slippage  and 
other  losses  in  delivery  and  of  102  gallons  for  water  used 
would  necessitate  an  average  daily  pumpage  of  125  gal- 
lons per  capita.  Such  an  allowance  is  considerably  in 
excess  of  the  pumpage  of  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  and 
other  cities  under  good  waste  control,  and  should  pro- 
vide an  abundant  supply  for  Chicago. 

Inasmuch  as  the  total  daily  pumpage  in  1916  reached 
259  gallons  per  capita,  it  must  be  plain  that  the  prevent- 
able water  waste  and  leakage  in  Chicago  amounted  to 
134  gallons  per  capita  per  day,  or  more  than  half  the 
total  pumpage. 

A  daily  per  capita  consumption  of  134  gallons  is  equiv- 
alent to  330,000,000  gallons  per  day. 

Chicago  loses  through  preventable  waste  and  leakage 
more  water  than  the  combined  supply  (including  waste 
and  leakage)  of  Milwaukee,  Boston,  Cleveland,  and  St. 
Louis. 

Economic  loss  Dae  to  Waste 

It  is  frequently  said  that  there  is  an  abundance  of 
lake  water  which  is  free  and  that  therefore  it  is  a  mat- 
ter of  indifference  whether  or  not  it  is  wasted.  This  is 
the  present  attitude  of  many  consumers.  True,  the  water 
itself  is  free,  but  the  City  is  in  the  business  of  trans- 
porting it  from  the  lake  to  the  premises  of  the  consumers 
and  its  transportation  costs  money.  "It  takes  just  as 
much  coal,  oil,  waste,  and  equipment  to  pump  water  to 
waste  into  the  sewers  as  it  does  to  furnish  water  for 
a  useful  purpose."* 

In  1916,  the  Chicago  Water  Works  undertook  to  de- 
liver daily  to  its  consumers  645,000,000  gallons  of  water. 

*Keport,  Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Water,  1914. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


137 


45  GALLONS 
Average  daily  consumption 
per   person   for    domestic 
purposes. 


Ordinary 
30-gallon 
hot  water 
tank. 


134  GALLONS 
per  person  represents 
the  daily  loss  of  water 
in  Chicago  through 
waste  and  leakage 
which  is  preventable. 


AVERAGE  DAILY  CONSUMPTION  OF  WATER  PER  PERSON  FOR  DOMESTIC 

PURPOSES  COMPARED  WITH  THE  AMOUNT  OF  PREVENTABLE  WASTE 

AND  LEAKAGE  IN  THE  CHICAGO  SYSTEM 


138  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

This  was  equivalent  to  the  load  of  1,300  sixty-car  freight 
trains  a  day.  More  than  half  the  freight  was  thrown 
away,  however,  either  in  the  course  of  delivery  or  after 
it  had  reached  the  consumers. 

In  discussing  this  phase  of  the  subject  before  the  Amer- 
ican Association  of  Engineers,  Mr.  John  Ericson,  the 
City  Engineer,  recently  said : 

"One  argument  is  that  we  have  a  lake  with  an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  water  right  at  our  doors  and 
that  the  water,  therefore,  should  be  as  free  as  the  air 
we  breathe. 

*  *  Sure,  we  have  plenty  of  water  in  the  lake.  Any- 
one can  go  there  and  take  all  the  water  he  desires,  as 
they  did  in  the  earliest  days  of  our  city,  but  if  you 
want  to  have  the  needed  supply  brought  to  your 
home  under  a  high  pressure  it  is  a  little  different. 
As  Mr.  Saner  puts  it  in  a  recent  report  to  me  on 
this  subject:  'The  same  argument  might  be  applied 
to  sand.  Anyone  can  go  down  to  the  lake  shore  and 
get  a  cubic  yard  of  sand.  No  one  will  stop  them,  but 
still  they  will  pay  $1.75  to  have  this  same  yard  of 
sand  delivered  to  them;  they  pay  for  the  labor  and 
transportation. ' 

"As  regards  water,  it  must  be  of  a  good  quality. 
For  this  reason  expensive  tunnels  extending  miles 
out  into  the  lake  must  be  constructed  to  carry  the 
pure  water  to  the  pumping  stations.  There  are  cost- 
ly structures  to  protect  the  intakes.  Complicated 
machinery  and  buildings  to  house  same  must  be  con- 
structed. Thousands  of  miles  of  mains  and  services, 
with  valves  and  hydrants,  must  be  laid.  Hundreds 
of  tons  of  coal  per  day  must  be  burned  in  order  to 
obtain  the  necessary  power  to  operate  the  pumps. 
Men  for  the  designing,  constructing,  operating,  main- 
taining, repairing,  collecting  of  taxes,  and  for  other 
purposes  must  be  hired  and  paid.  When  consider- 
ing that  over  one-half  million  dollars  is  expended 
each  year  for  fuel  alone  for  operating  these  pumps, 
it  can  be  seen  that  a  50  per  cent  waste  represents 
large  sums  of  money  lost,  and  that  common  business 
methods  should  be  applied  in  conserving  the  water 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  139 

supply,  as  is  done  in  the  case  of  other  commodities. 
That  is  common  sense.  Who  could  conduct  a  suc- 
cessful business  if  he  deliberately  allowed  over  50 
per  cent  of  the  commodities  he  is  selling  to  go  to 
useless  waste?" 

Waste  Impairs  Service 

How  transporting  the  large  body  of  water  which  is  lost 
through  waste  and  leakage  overtaxes  the  pumping  equip- 
ment and  mains,  increases  friction  and  lowers  pressures, 
thus  seriously  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  plant  and 
frequently  depriving  consumers  of  uninterrupted  and  sat- 
isfactory service,  has  already  been  described.  ( See  pages 
112-114.) 

Effect  of  Waste  on  the  Development  and  Cost  of  the  Plant 

As  heretofore  pointed  out  (page  118),  it  was  anticipated 
that  the  completion  of  the  Central  Park  Avenue  and 
Springfield  Avenue  pumping  stations  in  1901  would  pro- 
vide a  plant  with  a  pumping  capacity  sufficient  for  a 
population  of  3,500,000. 

These  stations  had  scarcely  been  put  into  operation, 
however,  before  the  City  Engineer  began  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  shortage  of  water  due  to  waste  and  to  urge 
the  need  for  eliminating  it.  The  failure  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil to  respond  to  these  warnings  and  to  adopt  effective 
waste  control  measures  made  it  necessary  to  commence 
work  on  further  additions  and  improvements.  Since 
1901,  445  million  gallons  per  day  have  been  added  to 
the  rated  pumping  capacity  of  the  plant — an  increase  of 
88  per  cent  in  fifteen  years.  During  this  time  the  popu- 
lation has  increased  but  40  per  cent. 

The  plant  today  has  a  capacity  sufficient  to  supply  the 
requirements  of  at  least  five  million  people  and  yet  the 
extensions  now  under  construction  and  those  proposed  by 


140  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  City  Engineer  will,  if  built,  practically  double  the 
present  capacity  within  the  next  twenty  years,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  which  the  population  in  all  probability  will 
not  have  reached  that  number. 

In  1906-07,  a  twenty  million  gallon  pump  was  installed 
at  the  Sixty-eighth  Street  station  and  a  forty  million 
gallon  pump  was  added  at  the  Central  Park  Avenue  sta- 
tion and  at  the  Springfield  Avenue  station.  In  1911, 
two  auxiliary  pumps  with  a  total  capacity  of  fifty  million 
gallons  per  day  were  erected  at  the  Twenty-second  Street 
station.  In  1913,  because  of  the  need  for  reserve  equip- 
ment, a  twenty-five  million  gallon  pump  was  placed  in 
each  of  the  four  following  stations — Fourteenth  Street, 
Harrison  Street,  Central  Park  Avenue,  and  Springfield 
Avenue.  In  1914,  a  twelve  million  gallon  pump  at  the 
Sixty-eighth  Street  station  was  replaced  by  two  cen- 
trifugal pumps  with  a  total  capacity  of  forty  million 
gallons  daily. 

The  necessity  for  the  greater  part  of  the  additional 
equipment  above  enumerated  can  be  attributed  directly 
to  the  large  amount  of  water  lost  through  waste  and 
leakage.  This  additional  equipment  does  not  include, 
however:  (1)  the  rehabilitation  of  the  Chicago  Avenue 
station  where  the  rated  capacity  of  the  pumps  was  not 
increased  although  the  efficiency  of  the  new  pumps  is 
much  greater  than  that  of  the  old  pumps;  or  (2)  the 
rehabilitation  of  the  Lake  View  station  where  the  rated 
capacity  of  the  new  pumps  is  fifty-five  million  gallons  per 
day  greater  than  that  of  the  old  pumps;  or  (3)  the 
replacement,  temporarily  and  until  a  new  station  can  be 
built,  of  several  old  pumps  at  the  Sixty-eighth  Street 
station  with  two  new  pumps  of  much  greater  efficiency; 
or  (4)  the  addition  of  the  Roseland  station  with  its  ca- 
pacity of  100,000,000  gallons  per  day.  The  waste  prob- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  141 

lem  has  also  influenced  plans  for  these  stations  as  well 
as  for  the  additional  tunnel  capacity  and  the  additional 
boiler  and  other  auxiliary  equipment  which  has  been  nec- 
essary. 

The  extent  to  which  the  loss  of  water  through  waste 
and  leakage  has  influenced  the  plans  for  plant  extensions 
and  the  very  large  capital  outlays  involved  therein  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  designs  of  the  Southwest  Lake  and 
Land  tunnel  and  of  the  new  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel. 

The  Southwest  Lake  and  Land  tunnel  has  a  daily  ca- 
pacity of  400,000,000  gallons.  It  was  designed  to  supply 
the  Roseland  pumping  station  and  also  two,  or  possibly 
three,  other  stations  which  have  not  as  yet  been  con- 
structed. Although  it  was  completed  in  1911,  less  than 
half  its  capacity  is  being  utilized  at  present.  This  tun- 
nel, together  with  the  Sixty-eighth  Street  station  tun- 
nels, supplies  water  for  practically  all  the  territory  south 
of  Thirty-ninth  Street,  except  the  stockyards  district 
which  draws  its  supply  for  the  most  part  from  the  Twen- 
ty-second Street  station.  The  combined  capacity  of  the 
Southwest  Lake  and  Land  tunnel  and  of  the  Sixty-eighth 
Street  pumping  station  tunnels  is  500,000,000  gallons 
per  day  which  is  sufficient  for.  a  population  of  approxi- 
mately 4,000,000.  In  1916,  the  population  of  the  City 
within  the  territory  which  these  tunnels  now  serve  (and 
may  be  expected  to  serve  in  the  future)  was  about  725,- 
000.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  estimate  at  what  date, 
if  ever,  a  population  of  4,000,000  may  be  expected  within 
this  territory,  or  how  much  of  the  capital  outlay  involved 
in  the  construction  of  the  Southwest  Lake  and  Land 
tunnel  might  have  been  saved  but  for  the  attempt  of  the 
Bureau  of  Engineering  to  anticipate  future  demands 
based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  present  rate  of  waste 
and  leakage  would  be  continued  or  possibly  increased. 


142  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

The  extent  to  which  waste  was  taken  into  considera- 
tion in  the  planning  of  the  Wilson  Avenue  tunnel  is  well 
stated  in  the  annual  report  of  the  City  Engineer  for  1913 
as  follows: 

' '  The  area  to  be  supplied  was  assumed  to  be  all  of 
that  part  of  the  city  lying  north  of  Fullerton  avenue. 
This  district  has  at  present — January  1,  1914 — an 
area  of  about  48  square  miles  and  a  population  of  ap- 
proximately 360,000.  An  assumption  of  an  ultimate 
population  of  40  people  per  acre  or  25,600  people  per 
square  mile  was  made,  which  would  equal  1,228,000 
in  the  district  and  would  be  reached  in  1940.  A 
rate  per  capita  of  300  gallons  per  day  was  taken  as 
a  basis  for  estimating  the  ultimate  supply  required, 
which  would  be  375,000,000  gallons  per  day. 

"A  ten-foot  tunnel  would  be  sufficient  for  25  years, 
and  would  cost  approximately  $900,000  less  than  a 
tunnel  of  the  required  capacity  in  1940;  $900,000 
would  be  worth  in  1939  at  3  per  cent,  compound  in- 
terest, $1,881,000,  which  amount  would  not  construct 
a  tunnel  which  would  probably  be  required  at  that 
time.  The  system  was,  therefore,  designed  for  350,- 
000,000  gallons,  which  is  practically  the  amount  that 
will  be  needed  in  1940. ' ' 

But  36  of  the  200  square  miles  within  the  present  City 
limits  have  a  population  of  25,000  or  more,  so  that  an  esti- 
mate of  25,600  per  square  mile  for  the  territory  above 
described  would  seem  to  be  sufficiently  liberal.  This 
territory  is  used  largely  for  residential  purposes.  For 
territory  of  this  character  a  per  capita  consumption  of 
100  gallons  per  day  would  be  a  very  liberal  estimate  and 
should  furnish  an  abundant  supply.  Obviously,  there- 
fore, this  tunnel  is  being  constructed  with  three  times 
the  capacity  which  would  be  required  of  it  but  for  the 
excessive  per  capita  consumption  upon  which  the  plans 
were  designed  on  the  assumption  that  waste  and  leakage 
are  to  continue  as  in  the  past. 

On  the  assumption  that  the  tunnel  as  designed  will  be 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  143 

required  by  1940,  the  Bureau  of  Engineering  estimates 
the  capital  outlay,  which  will  not  be  called  into  use  until 
that  time,  at  $1,881,000.  Of  course  the  unnecessary  cap- 
ital outlay  being  made  is  very  much  greater  than  that 
amount  if  it  be  assumed  that  the  tunnel  is  designed  to 
supply  three  times  the  quantity  of  water  which  the  ulti- 
mate demand  upon  it  should  require. 

Besides  increasing  the  tunnel  and  pumping  capacity  of 
the  plant,  it  has  been  necessary  to  make  extensive  addi- 
tions to  the  distribution  system.  Many  of  the  mains  laid, 
especially  the  large  feeder  mains  for  the  construction  of 
which  approximately  $3,500,000  have  been  expended  with- 
in the  past  five  years,  are  entirely  unneeded  except  for 
the  purpose  of  transporting  water  which  is  lost  through 
waste  and  leakage. 

The  original  cost  of  the  water  works  plant  December 
31, 1901,  as  reported  by  the  Department  of  Public  Works, 
was  $34,061,076.98;  December  31,  1916,  it  was  $70,773,- 
556.12 — an  increase  of  107  per  cent  in  fifteen  years.  The 
cost  due  to  extensions  and  additions  increased  approxi- 
mately 65  per  cent;  the  population,  about  40  per  cent. 
Expenditures  for  replacements  increased  the  cost  about 
15  per  cent;  those  for  plant  and  equipment  not  directly 
involved  in  the  furnishing  of  water,  including  the  in- 
tercepting sewer  system  and  the  new  municipal  shops, 
about  27  per  cent. 

For  many  years  the  revenue  derived  from  the  sale  of 
water  has  been  about  double  the  amount  required  for  the 
expense  of  operation  and  maintenance,  but  the  excess, 
large  as  it  has  been,  has  not  been  entirely  sufficient  to 
meet  the  extraordinary  demands  upon  the  water  fund, 
among  them  the  expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars  for  the 
tunnels,  pumps,  and  mains  necessary  to  supply  water  lost 
through  waste  and  leakage,  which  enormous  as  it  was 


144  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

fifteen  years  ago  has  since  increased  faster  than  the 
population.  In  recent  years  general  taxation  has  been 
resorted  to  to  meet  payments  on  water  works  bonds,  and 
during  the  present  year  it  has  been  necessary  to  antici- 
pate future  income  by  issuing  water  certificates  in  order 
to  complete  improvements  under  construction.  The  ex- 
tensive additions  to  the  plant,  necessitated  by  the  con- 
stantly increasing  volume  of  waste,  have  contributed 
largely  to  this  situation. 

Effect  of  Waste  on  Cost  of  Operation  and  Maintenance 

The  total  cost  of  operating  the  water  works  plant  for 
the  five-year  period  ended  December  31, 1916,  as  reported 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  was  $10,087,834. 
Of  this  amount  $4,779,077,  or  nearly  half,  was  expended 
for  the  operation  of  pumping  stations — in  other  words, 
for  pumping  water  which  is  often  regarded  as  free.  The 
largest  items  of  expense  in  pumping  station  operation  are 
salaries,  wages,  and  fuel.  Expenditures  in  1916  for  sal- 
aries and  wages  amounted  to  $433,702.65;  expenditures 
for  fuel  and  power  amounted  to  $444,284.94,  making  a 
total  of  $877,987.59.  Approximately  half  the  fuel  and 
power  consumed  was  used  to  pump  water  that  was  lost 
because  of  waste  and  leakage  which  could  have  been  pre- 
vented. Plainly,  therefore,  in  1916  waste  and  leakage 
which  could  have  been  eliminated  without  restricting  the 
use  of  water  cost  the  City  about  $220,000  for  fuel  and 
power.  A  similar  condition  has  prevailed  for  several 
years.  Waste  and  leakage  also  make  it  necessary  to  oper- 
ate and  maintain  a  larger  number  of  pumps  and  boilers 
than  would  otherwise  be  required,  thereby  increasing  the 
cost  of  pumping  station  labor,  supplies,  and  repairs.  The 
additional  annual  cost  for  these  last  three  items  probably 
aggregates  more  than  $230,000.  Thus  it  has  been  costing 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  145 


146  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

nearly  $500,000  a  year,  or  about  one-half  the  entire  cost 
of  operating  and  maintaining  the  pumping  stations,  to 
pump  water  which  is  later  wasted  or  which  leaks  away  and 
serves  no  useful  purpose  of  any  kind.  With  the  cost  of 
coal  advancing  and  the  volume  of  waste  and  leakage  in- 
creasing, operating  costs  will  of  course  be  more  seriously 
affected.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  money  saving  which 
could  be  effected,  it  is  therefore  becoming  increasingly 
important  to  eliminate  waste.  Moreover,  in  view  of  the 
problems  now  involved  in  mining  and  transporting  coal 
and  of  the  resulting  need  for  conserving  its  use,  the 
necessity  for  preventing  water  waste,  and  hence  fuel 
waste,  is  becoming  more  and  more  urgent. 

Effect  of  Waste  on  the  Cost  of  Filtration 

If  Chicago  shall  ultimately  decide  to  filter  its  water 
supply,  the  amount  of  water  wasted  will  have  an  im- 
portant bearing  upon  the  cost  and  other  problems  in- 
volved in  carrying  out  the  plans. 

The  cost  of  constructing  and  operating  nitration  plants 
is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  water  filtered. 
To  construct  plants  for  filtering  the  water  now  being 
wasted  would  require  $6,600,000.  This  is  on  a  basis  of 
$20,000  per  million  gallons  per  day  of  water  filtered,  a 
figure  recently  used  by  the  City  Engineer  in  discussing 
the  subject.  To  operate  these  plants  would  cost  approxi- 
mately $600,000  per  year.  If  the  present  policy  of  per- 
mitting practically  unrestricted  waste  and  leakage  is  con- 
tinued, the  volume  of  water  lost  through  these  sources 
will  be  greater  in  the  future  than  at  present.  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  time  finally  arrives  for  building  filtration 
plants,  the  amounts  which  will  be  involved  in  filtering 
waste  water  will  be  much  larger  even  than  those  here 
mentioned. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  147 

Waste  as  Related  to  Sewage  Disposal 

Chicago  is  now  discharging  its  sewage  and  industrial 
wastes  into  the  Chicago  River  and  the  Sanitary  District 
Canal,  where  they  are  diluted  with  lake  water  and  car- 
ried off  into  the  Desplaines  and  Illinois  Eivers.  This 
method  has  not  proved  altogether  adequate.  The  ulti- 
mate solution  of  the  sewage  disposal  problem  will  prob- 
ably be  found  in  supplementing  the  dilution  method  with 
plants  for  the  purification  of  the  sewage  to  some  extent 
before  it  is  discharged  into  the  drainage  canal. 

If  such  sewage  disposal  plants  shall  later  be  found 
necessary,  the  cost  of  constructing  and  operating  them 
will  be  affected  by  the  amount  of  water  which  is  mixed 
with  the  sewage  to  be  treated.  A  large  amount  of  waste 
water  will  mean  a  large  volume  of  sewage  mixture  to 
dispose  of,  which  will  necessitate  larger  and  more  ex- 
pensive disposal  works  than  would  otherwise  be  neces- 
sary. 

Waste  water,  therefore,  instead  of  being  of  value  in 
helping  to  dispose  of  sewage  by  flushing  the  sewers  (as 
it  is  sometimes  erroneously  thought  to  be  by  persons 
unfamiliar  with  conditions)  will  complicate  and  add  to 
the  expense  of  the  problem  whenever  it  shall  become  nec- 
essary to  operate  disposal  plants.  To  flush  a  sewer  ef- 
fectively requires  a  large  volume  of  water  concentrated 
upon  the  section  of  the  sewer  to  be  flushed.  While  the 
aggregate  volume  of  water  lost  through  waste  and  leak- 
age is  enormous,  it  is  so  spread  out  over  the  city  as  to 
be  entirely  ineffective  for  sewer  flushing  purposes.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  also  that  a  considerable  part  of 
the  water  lost  escapes  through  the  ground  and  does  not 
enter  the  sewers. 


148  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


VI.    THE  REDUCTION  OF  WATER  WASTE 

It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the  Chicago  Water  Works 
will  never  furnish  satisfactory  and  economical  service  un- 
til waste  and  leakage  are  reduced  to  within  reasonable 
limits.  Any  attempt  to  overcome  their  ruinous  effects 
upon  service  by  adding  more  pumps  will  prove  a  hopeless 
race  with  leaky  pipes  and  the  open  faucet  and  will  result 
in  the  further  waste  of  public  funds  on  a  large  scale. 

Waste  and  leakage  have  been  steadily  increasing  for 
many  years  and  experience  indicates  that  they  will  con- 
tinue to  increase  unless  effective  measures  are  taken  to 
check  them.  Efforts  to  offset  the  constantly  growing 
loss  of  water  by  providing  additional  equipment  have 
resulted  in  the  pumpage  increasing  more  than  twice  as 
fast  as  the  population  during  the  past  fifteen  years.  But 
these  efforts  have  been  only  partially  successful  in  im- 
proving conditions  with  respect  to  service,  while  the  large 
expenditures  involved  for  both  construction  and  operat- 
ing purposes  have  practically  bankrupted  the  water  fund. 
There  is  nothing  to  warrant  the  assumption  that  similar 
efforts  in  the  future  will  be  more  effective  or  less  expen- 
sive. On  the  other  hand,  if  waste  and  leakage  are  elimi- 
nated so  far  as  practicable,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
furnishing  adequate  service  at  a  very  large  saving  in 
operating  costs  and  with  a  greatly  reduced  outlay  for 
additional  plant  and  equipment  which  otherwise  will  be 
required. 

The  reduction  of  water  waste  and  leakage  is  therefore 
a  matter  of  vital  importance  from  the  standpoint  of  both 
efficiency  and  economy. 

In  this  connection,  it  should  again  be  emphasized  that 
the  reduction  or  elimination  of  waste  and  leakage  does 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  149 

not  mean  the  restriction  of  any  person  in  the  "use"  of  all 
the  water  he  can  use  or  is  accustomed  to  use.  Water  can 
be  supplied  so  cheaply  in  Chicago  that  the  City  can  have 
no  incentive  to  curtail  its  "use"  in  any  manner.  What 
is  desired  is  to  stop  the  necessity  for  pumping  and  dis- 
tributing an  enormous  volume  of  water  which  is  of  no 
"use"  to  anyone. 

Efforts  to  reduce  waste  and  leakage  should,  of  course, 
be  directed  against  losses  both  in  delivery  and  on  the 
premises  of  consumers. 

REDUCING  LOSSES  IN  DELIVERY 

Losses  in  delivery  due  to  pump  slippage  can  be  kept 
within  reasonable  limits  as  heretofore  indicated,  pro- 
vided sufficient  reserve  equipment  is  maintained  to  per- 
mit taking  pumps  out  of  service  and  making  necessary 
repairs  when  the  slippage  becomes  excessive. 

Excessive  under-registration  of  meters  can  also  be 
avoided  by  a  system  of  periodic  tests,  supplemented  by 
necessary  repairs.  Such  testing  is  essential,  however,  if 
substantial  losses  which  otherwise  will  result  from  de- 
fective meters  are  to  be  avoided. 

The  most  serious  losses  in  delivery  are  due  to  breaks 
and  leaks  in  the  mains  and  service  pipes,  and  the  matter 
of  reducing  and  holding  them  to  a  practicable  minimum 
presents  a  serious  problem.  Its  satisfactory  solution 
calls  for  a  systematic  and  continuous  survey  of  the  en- 
tire distribution  system  so  as  to  locate  important  under- 
ground leakage,  the  survey  to  be  supplemented  by  such 
repairs  as  the  conditions  disclosed  may  require  or  war- 
rant. 

Beginning  about  ten  years  ago  the  Bureau  of  Engineer- 
ing conducted  water  waste  surveys  over  a  considerable 


150  Chicago  Burecvu  of  Public  Efficiency 

area  of  the  City,  accompanying  them  with  the  rehabili- 
tation of  some  of  the  lines  surveyed.  In  this  work  the 
engineers  were  seriously  handicapped  in  obtaining  defi- 
nite data  as  to  underground  leakage  because  they  were 
unable  in  most  cases  to  isolate  the  main  from  the  prem- 
ises of  all  consumers,  by  shutting  off  the  curb  cocks  on 
the  service  pipes,  and  then,  by  measuring  the  flow  of 
water  into  the  isolated  main,  to  determine  definitely  the 
amount  of  leakage  therein.  Neglect  and  disuse  of  the 
curb  cocks  and  buffalo  boxes  have  become  so  general  that 
a  large  percentage  of  them  must  be  located  by  digging 
and  then  must  be  put  in  repair  before  they  can  be  oper- 
ated. 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  policy  with  respect  to 
waste  surveys  has  changed  and  they  have  been  confined 
largely  to  streets  about  to  be  paved.  From  seventy-five 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  mains  are  now  being 
examined  and  repaired  annually  under  this  plan,  depend- 
ing upon  the  amount  of  paving  undertaken. 

The  work  now  being  done  involves  the  location  and 
repair  of  buffalo  boxes  and  curb  cocks  so  that  they  may 
be  closed  and  the  mains  accurately  tested  for  leakage, 
after  which  both  mains  and  service  pipes  are  rehabili- 
tated and  repaired  so  far  as  necessary  in  order  to  reduce 
leakage  therein  to  the  lowest  practicable  amount. 

The  work  of  locating  and  checking  leakage  in  the  dis- 
tribution system  should  be  extended  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble and,  in  connection  with  any  general  extension  of  the 
meter  system,  should  be  pushed  to  keep  pace  with  the 
latter.  Conditions  existing  just  prior  to  street  paving 
are  particularly  favorable  for  work  of  this  kind  because 
the  mains  may  be  reached  and  made  tight  without  cutting 
through  any  pavement.  Survey  and  rehabilitation  work 
such  as  should  accompany  metering  would  in  all  proba- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  151 

bility  require  the  preliminary  repairs  necessary  to  the 
making  of  accurate  tests  for  leakage.  The  extent  and 
thoroughness  of  subsequent  repairs,  particularly  on 
mains  under  paved  streets,  would,  of  course,  have  to  be 
determined  in  each  case  in  the  light  of  the  conditions 
disclosed  by  the  test. 

Past  surveys  and  investigations  indicate  that  the  leak- 
age from  service  pipes  aggregates  an  enormous  total. 
Thousands  of  these  pipes  have  been  connected  with  the 
mains  and  run  to  the  curb  lines  opposite  vacant  lots, 
but  have  never  been  used  either  because  the  property  is 
still  unimproved  or  because,  when  improvements  were 
made,  it  was  found  that  the  pipes  thus  laid  were  not 
needed,  or  that  they  were  not  in  the  right  location  or  of 
proper  size.  Many  of  these  unused  services  have  broken 
off  at  the  mains,  have  opened  up  under  pressure,  or  are 
leaking  badly  at  the  curb  cocks,  thus  wasting  large  quanti- 
ties of  water.* 

Of  recent  years  the  laying  of  services  in  anticipation 
of  future  use  has  not  been  so  general  as  in  former  times 
and  at  present  the  practice  is  confined  largely  to  streets 
about  to  be  paved,  the  purpose  being  to  avoid  so  far  as 
possible  the  subsequent  opening  up  of  pavements  to  make 
connections.  The  Bureau  appreciates  the  reluctance  of 
property  owners  to  have  pavements  opened  up  after  they 
are  laid  but  in  view  of  the  conditions  above  described,  it 
may  be  seriously  questioned  whether  the  present  practice 
should  be  continued.  In  commenting  on  this  matter  in 
his  annual  report  for  1911  the  City  Engineer  said: 

"Fifty-five  per  cent  of  the  service  pipes  laid  and 
connected  to  the  mains  in  1911  were  for  future  use. 
These  were  laid  prior  to  street  paving  and  the  water 
is  turned  on  to  the  shut-off  at  the  curb.  It  is  prob- 
able that  a  large  proportion  of  this  55  per  cent  will 

*See  page  133. 


152  Chicago  Burem  of  Public  Efficiency 

never  be  used,  but  will  remain  as  a  source  of  leaks 
and  a  positive  detriment  to  the  pavements,  which 
have  to  be  opened  to  repair  leaks  in  these  very  pipes 
that  were  laid  to  prevent  such  openings. 

"In  my  opinion,  the  custom  of  laying  service  pipes 
in  streets  to  be  paved  should  be  adhered  to  only 
when  there  is  a  probability  of  such  pipes  being  used 
within  two  or  three  years.  In  many  instances  the 
pipe  may  otherwise  never  be  used.  It  may  not  be  in 
the  right  location  or  of  the  proper  size  to  meet  future 
requirements.  An  opening  in  a  pavement  two  or 
three  years  old,  with  proper  care,  can  be  restored 
to  a  condition  as  good  as  the  rest  of  the  street.  Any 
water  stub  not  used  is  a  financial  burden  on  the  prop- 
erty-owner, as  no  benefit  is  derived  therefrom." 

The  present  procedure  of  the  City  as  to  water  services 
is  to  endeavor  to  have  owners  install  such  pipes  in  ad- 
vance of  street  paving  and,  where  the  owner  refuses  to 
do  so,  to  institute  special  assessment  proceedings  and 
make  the  installations  thereunder.  It  would  seem  that 
most  owners,  if  they  intended  to  improve  vacant  property 
within  a  few  years  and  could  anticipate  approximately 
the  nature  of  the  use  to  which  it  would  be  put,  would  see 
the  economy  of  laying  water  service  pipes  before  the 
street  was  paved  and  would  voluntarily  make  the  instal- 
lations. The  Bureau  believes  that  when  property  owners 
are  not  willing  to  do  this  it  is  a  mistake  for  the  City  to 
resort  to  enforced  installations,  and  further  that  voluntary 
installations  opposite  vacant  property  should  be  permit- 
ted only  immediately  in  advance  of  paving.  Of  course, 
in  all  cases  mains  should  be  laid  before  a  street  is  paved. 

METHODS  OF  REDUCING  LOSSES  ON  CONSUMERS'  PREMISES 

So  far  as  losses  within  the  consumers'  premises  are 
concerned,  they  can  be  greatly  reduced  or  substantially 
eliminated  depending  upon  the  method  employed  to  effect 
the  result.  Practically  there  are  but  two  methods  for 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  153 

controlling  losses  of  this  sort ;  one  is  by  frequent  house- 
to-house  inspections  accompanied  by  the  rigid  enforce- 
ment of  penalties;  the  other  is  by  the  installation  of 
meters. 

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE  INSPECTIONS 

House-to-house  inspections  as  a  means  of  controlling 
waste  and  leakage  are  unsatisfactory  in  several  respects. 

Inspections  Not  Completely  Effective 

In  the  first  place  inspections  are  never  completely  ef- 
fective in  checking  waste,  although  they  may  do  much 
toward  reducing  the  loss  from  leaky  and  defective  plumb- 
ing. There  are  several  reasons  for  this. 

Inspections  do  not  affect  to  any  considerable  extent 
the  losses  due  to  tjareless  or  wilful  waste.  In  fact,  inspec- 
tion may  not  reveal  this  kind  of  waste  because  it  is  in- 
termittent and  either  does  not  exist  or  is  discontinued  at 
the  time  the  inspector  calls  to  examine  the  premises. 
Moreover,  the  consumer  who  carelessly  or  wilfully  wastes 
water,  even  if  detected  by  the  inspector,  will  in  most 
cases  resume  his  wasteful  tactics  immediately  after  in- 
spection, which  therefore  has  accomplished  practically 
nothing.  This  applies  particularly  to  consumers  who 
deliberately  waste  water  through  the  open  faucet,  the 
hose,  the  hopper  closet,*  and  other  flushing  devices. 

*The  so-called  long  hopper  closet  is  perhaps  the  most  wasteful 
sanitary  device  in  use.  It  is  described  as  "a  sanitary  device,  used  for 
water  closet  purposes.  It  costs  less  to  install  than  closets  with  flush 
tanks  and  can  also  be  used  outside  or  in  basements  where  a  moderate 
amount  of  freezing  will  occur.  The  various  controlling  devices  used 
to  regulate  the  [water]  supply  for  hoppers  are  inexpensive  fixtures 
and  are  apt  to  get  out  of  order  easily.  In  addition,  a  part  of  the  de- 
vice is  under  cover  and  difficult  to  get  at,  so  that  maintaining  them 
in  good  order  is  a  burden  to  the  consumer."  (Report,  Department 
of  Public  Works,  1911.)  Quite  generally  the  water  is  allowed  to 
run  continuously  in  these  closets  and  tests  show  that  when  this  is 
permitted  a  single  closet  will  waste  from  6,000  to  10,000  gallons  of 
water  a  day.  Definite  information  is  lacking  but  it  is  estimated  that 
there  are  from  40,000  to  50,000  of  these  closets  still  in  use,  mostly 
in  the  older  sections  of  the  City, 


154  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Neither  do  inspections  as  a  rule  detect  and  check 
leakage  immediately.  Unfortunately,  premises  where 
no  leakage  occurs  one  day  may  be  among  the  worst 
offenders  the  next  and,  since  the  consumer  has  no  incent- 
ive to  make  the  necessary  repairs  immediately,  a  large 
amount  of  water  may  be  lost  before  the  next  inspection 
is  made  and  the  leaks  detected.  Theoretically,  such 
losses  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  increasing  the 
frequency  of  the  inspections.  Practically,  however,  the 
cost  of  inspections  places  a  limit  upon  the  number  which 
can  profitably  be  made.  Hence  under  the  most  effective 
inspection  system  practicable  a  considerable  amount  of 
preventable  leakage  is  certain  to  exist. 

The  effectiveness  of  the  inspection  method  even  within 
the  limits  of  its  practical  possibilities  depends  in  part 
upon  the  competency  and  integrity  of  the  inspectors,  the 
thoroughness  with  which  they  do  their  work,  and  the 
vigor  with  which  they  enforce  orders  to  make  repairs 
on  premises  where  leaks  are  found.  Incompetency  or 
lack  of  integrity  may  seriously  impair  the  results,  and 
the  danger  that  wasteful  consumers  will  obstruct  and 
interfere  with  inspectors  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties, 
by  the  use  of  political  pressure  or  otherwise,  is  con- 
stantly present. 

Inspection  Method  Costly 

The  effectiveness  of  the  inspection  method  also  de- 
pends in  part  upon  the  frequency  with  which  inspections 
are  made.  To  obtain  even  reasonably  satisfactory  re- 
sults, at  least  two  complete  inspections  should  be  made 
each  year,  with  additional  inspections  when  leaks  are 
found,  in  order  to  insure  proper  repairs  being  made. 
Inspections  are  expensive.  Several  years  ago  the  Bureau 
of  Engineering  made  a  very  large  number  of  them  in 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  155 

connection  with  extensive  water  waste  surveys  then  being 
carried  on.  This  experience  indicates  that  the  average 
cost  per  inspection  is  slightly  in  excess  of  $1.00.  On  the 
basis  of  the  number  of  inspections  and  re-inspections 
above  indicated,  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  inspection 
system  would  be  approximately  the  same  as  the  cost  of 
maintaining  and  reading  meters.  On  the  above  basis, 
however,  the  inspection  method  would  not  be  nearly  so 
effective  as  the  meter  method.  To  attempt  to  increase 
the  effectiveness  of  the  inspection  method  through  more 
frequent  inspections  would  merely  further  increase  its 
cost  out  of  proportion  to  the  results  obtained,  as  com- 
pared with  the  results  obtained  from  the  meter  method. 

Inspections  Produce  Only  Temporary  Results 

Another  serious  objection  to  the  inspection  method  is 
that  no  permanent  benefit  is  derived  from  the  money  ex- 
pended upon  it.  The  results  which  it  produces  last  only 
so  long  as  the  inspections  are  continued.  If  for  any  rea- 
son inspections  are  relaxed,  conditions  revert  almost  im- 
mediately to  their  former  state.  This  was  demonstrated 
by  the  extensive  experiments  in  the  house-to-house  in- 
spection work  conducted  by  the  Bureau  of  Engineering 
several  years  ago,  and  is  the  experience  of  other  cities 
that  have  tried  this  method.  During  the  six-year  period 
beginning  with  1908,  Chicago  spent  approximately  $420,- 
000  in  water  waste  survey  and  inspection  work.  This 
work  was  of  value  in  stopping  considerable  leakage  tem- 
porarily and  in  providing  data  as  to  waste  conditions. 
It  is  significant,  however,  that  it  did  not  effect  any  per- 
manent results,  and  that  waste  and  leakage  have  steadily 
increased  as  is  indicated  by  the  steadily  increasing  rate 
of  consumption  per  capita. 

To   be    even   measurably    successful,    the    inspection 


156  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

method  must  be  prosecuted  vigorously  and  must  be 
strongly  backed  by  administrative  officials ;  also  it  must 
be  supported  with  funds  necessary  to  carry  on  the  work 
properly  and  must  be  continued  perpetually.  Any  re- 
laxation in  the  work  of  inspection  will  be  followed  by 
an  immediate  reversion  to  former  wasteful  conditions. 
Since  changes  in  administrative  officials  and  policies,  such 
as  frequently  occur,  or  the  withholding  of  adequate  ap- 
propriations often  result  in  inspections  being  relaxed  or 
abandoned,  attempts  to  effect  waste  control  by  this 
method  seldom  if  ever  accomplish  lasting  reforms. 

Penalties  Must  be  Enforced 

The  inspection  system  is  generally  burdensome  and 
disagreeable  to  householders,  and  to  be  effective  it  must 
be  accompanied  by  rigid  enforcement  of  penalties  against 
those  who  are  found  to  be  guilty  of  permitting  waste  and 
leakage.  People  do  not  like  to  have  their  houses  in- 
spected. When  penalties  are  in  fact  enforced  they  are 
more  burdensome  and  expensive  to  the  shiftless  and 
wasteful  consumer  than  is  metering,  which  is  much  more 
effective  in  preventing  waste — the  thing  which  officials 
and  other  consumers  are  primarily  interested  in.  On  the 
other  hand,  under  the  inspection  system,  the  large  num- 
ber of  householders  and  other  careful  consumers,  who 
keep  their  plumbing  in  repair  and  are  not  wilful  wasters 
and  who  find  that  metering  neither  restricts  their  "use" 
of  water  nor  burdens  their  pocket-books,  are  required 
to  submit  periodically  to  the  annoyance  and  inconvenience 
of  having  their  premises  inspected.  This  annoyance  and 
inconvenience  is,  of  course,  entirely  eliminated  by  the 
installation  of  meters. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  157 

METERING 

The  other  method  of  controlling  waste  and  leakage  is 
by  the  installation  of  meters.  This  method  is  effective 
and  economical.  It  produces  permanent  results.  The 
Bureau  believes  that  experience  has  shown  it  to  be  the 
only  satisfactory  and  equitable  way  to  cope  with  the 
waste  problem. 

Metering  Effective,  Permanent,  and  Economical 

Many  consumers  either  carelessly  or  wilfully  waste 
water  in  various  ways.  Among  the  worst  offenders  of 
this  class  are  those  who  let  the  water  run  continuously 
to  prevent  it  from  freezing  during  periods  of  extreme 
cold  and  for  cooling  purposes  during  hot  weather ;  those 
who  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  shut  off  the  hose 
when  it  is  not  in  use  or  not  needed  for  sprinkling  pur- 
poses; and  those  who  permit  a  continuous  flow  in  hop- 
per closets*  and  other  flushing  devices.  A  much  larger 
number  of  consumers  permit  leakage  from  plumbing 
pipes  and  fixtures.  In  the  absence  of  metering  there  is 
no  inducement  to  conserve  the  supply.  Consumers  feel 
that  the  waste  and  leakage  on  their  individual  premises 
is  insignificant.  They  therefore  often  make  no  effort 
to  avoid  waste  and  quite  generally  pay  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  leaks  unless  they  cause  inconvenience,  interfere 
with  the  service,  or  result  in  property  damage.  If  only 
a  few  consumers  assumed  this  attitude,  it  would  make 
little  difference,  but  with  a  large  number  assuming  it  the 
results  are  disastrous  both  to  service  and  to  finances. 
Inspections  and  penalties  are  of  value  in  remedying  such 
conditions  but,  for  the  reasons  heretofore  explained,  they 
are  neither  effective  nor  satisfactory.  Under  metering, 

*See  note,  page  153. 


158  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

on  the  other  hand,  each  consumer  pays  for  the  water  he 
wastes  and  there  is  a  constant  incentive  for  each  to  reduce 
to  a  minimum  the  amount  of  waste  and  leakage  on  his 
premises.  A  city  inspector  might  call  two  or  three  times 
a  year.  He  might  not  be  thorough  or  careful  in  his  in- 
spection, or  he  might  be  deceived  or  interfered  with  in 
his  work.  A  meter  is  on  the  job  all  the  time  and  results 
in  each  consumer  becoming  his  own  inspector,  anxious  to 
detect  and  check  leaks  and  to  curtail  waste.  Metering 
therefore  is  an  effective  means  of  controlling  and  pre- 
venting waste  and  leakage. 

Second  only  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  results  secured 
by  metering  is  their  permanency.  Once  meters  have 
been  installed,  there  is  no  danger  of  waste  and  leakage 
being  resumed.  Inspection  never  relaxes  because  of 
changing  administrations  or  policies,  but  each  consumer 
continues  to  watch  his  own  premises,  realizing  that  if  he 
fails  to  do  so  he  will  have  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  own 
wasteful  or  shiftless  conduct  and  that  he  cannot  transfer 
the  burden  to  his  more  careful  neighbors. 

Considering  the  more  effective  and  permanent  results 
secured  at  approximately  the  same  cost  as  for  house-to- 
house  inspections,  metering  is  of  course  by  far  the  more 
economical  method. 

Metering  the  Equitable  Way  to  Sell  Water 

Metering  not  only  produces  effective,  permanent,  and 
economical  results  in  controlling  waste  and  leakage,  but 
it  is  the  only  equitable  method  of  dealing  with  the  waste 
problem  and  of  selling  water. 

"Under  the  present  system  in  Chicago  one  property 
owner  who  owns  a  new  building  with  modern  tight  plumb- 
ing fixtures  pays  as  much  for  the  water  he  uses  as  does 
his  neighbor  in  the  same  size  building  and  lot,  but  with 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  159 

old  leaky  fixtures  on  which  he  neglects  to  expend  any 
money  whatever  for  repairs,  as  he  thinks  there  is  no  in- 
ducement for  him  to  do  so. 

"One  buys  some  ice  to  cool  his  eatables  in  the  summer; 
the  other  cools  them  by  letting  the  water  run  continu- 
ously. One  after  getting  through  sprinkling  his  lawn 
shuts  off  the  water  until  the  next  time  for  sprinkling ;  the 
other  hides  the  nozzle  of  his  hose  in  a  bush  and  lets  the 
water  run  all  day  and  night. 

"And  for  these  and  other  reasons  four,  yes,  even  ten, 
times  as  much  water  is  supplied  to  his  neighbor  while 
the  taxes  paid  to  the  city  remain  the  same  in  both 
cases."* 

Few  will  be  found  to  contend  that  the  consumer  who 
uses  a  small  quantity  of  water  and  the  one  who  uses  a 
much  larger  quantity  should  pay  the  same  rate  merely 
because  they  occupy  buildings  of  the  same  width  and 
height,  which  contain  the  same  number  of  fixtures.  It 
is  even  more  unfair,  however,  that  the  consumer  who 
keeps  his  plumbing  in  good  repair  and  is  careful  to  avoid 
waste  should  bear  any  part  of  the  expense  caused  by  the 
wasteful  or  careless  habits  of  his  neighbor.  Charging 
for  water  on  the  flat  rate  or  frontage  basis,  such  as  is  in 
effect  for  the  most  part  in  Chicago,  produces  results  of 
this  kind  in  thousands  of  cases. 

Under  the  flat  rate  system  the  wasteful  consumer  does 
not  pay  the  charges  on  what  he  throws  away  but  makes 
the  City  collect  them  pro  rata  from  all  careful  consumers 
in  addition  to  the  legitimate  charges  against  the  latter. 
Under  metering,  each  consumer  pays  for  the  water  he 
uses  or  wastes  and  no  more.  This  is  the  only  fair  and 
equitable  way  to  adjust  charges. 

*Extract  from  paper  read  before   the  American  Association   of 
Engineers,  April  5,  1917,  by  Mr.  John  Ericson,  City  Engineer. 


160  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Selling  water  on  a  flat  rate  basis  is  about  as  business- 
like and  fair  as  selling  milk  or  meat  or  groceries  or  cloth- 
ing at  so  much  a  month  or  a  year  and  charging  different 
families  the  same  rate  without  regard  to  the  number  of 
members  in  each  or  the  varying  amounts  which  they 
might  use  or  waste.  It  is  as  though  a  baker  should  sell 
unlimited  bread  per  family  at  so  much  per  year.  Those 
who  took  five  or  ten  loaves  a  day  and  threw  most  of  it 
away  would  have  their  waste  paid  for  by  the  vast  major- 
ity of  those  who  got  on  reasonably  with  one  or  two  loaves 
a  day  for  the  family.  No  one  thinks  of  buying  such 
commodities  as  gas  or  electricity  or  street  car  transpor- 
tation on  any  such  arrangement  and  no  one  should  expect 
to  buy  water  that  way. 

Popular  Objection  to  Metering 

Notwithstanding  the  obvious  advantages  of  metering  as 
a  means  of  controlling  waste  and  of  apportioning  water 
charges,  there  is  a  strong  popular  objection  to  the  in- 
stallation of  meters.  This  is  true  of  Chicago  and  it  is 
true  of  practically  every  other  city  where  metering  has 
not  been  adopted.  It  is  significant  however  that  cities 
where  meters  have  been  introduced  have  not  gone  back  to 
former  methods,  the  meters  having  proved  satisfactory 
to  both  the  municipality  and  the  consumers.  Milwaukee 
and  Cleveland  are  typical  examples. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  experience  also  that  the  most 
strenuous  objections  to  the  introduction  of  meters  come 
from  the  larger  cities.  This  is  due  principally  to  the  fact 
that  in  such  cities  there  is  a  larger  proportion  of  tenant 
consumers,  and  that  the  landlords,  who  in  a  large  number 
of  cases  pay  the  water  charges,  fear  that  their  bills  will 
be  increased  by  the  wasteful  and  careless  practices  of 
their  tenants.  That  this  fear  is  not  well  founded  will  be 
pointed  out  later. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  161 

The  opposition  to  metering  is  due  largely  to  prejudice 
and  to  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  results  which  follow 
the  installation  of  meters.  There  is  a  generally  preva- 
lent belief  that  meters  are  intended  to  restrict  the  "use" 
of  water  and  that,  unless  the  consumer  cuts  down  the 
quantity  of  water  which  he  requires  or  is  accustomed  to 
use,  his  water  bills  will  be  increased.  The  problem, 
therefore,  is  to  overcome  this  prejudice  and  misapprehen- 
sion by  demonstrating  that  meters  do  not  restrict  the 
"use"  of  water;  that  they  produce  results  by  preventing 
waste  and  leakage ;  and  that  they  result  in  an  equitable  ap- 
portionment of  water  charges,  and  in  the  reduction  rather 
than  in  the  increase  of  bills  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases. 
If  consumers  and  owners  can  be  convinced  of  these  facts, 
opposition  to  metering  will  disappear.  The  same  argu- 
ments that  are  advanced  against  meters  today  have  been 
used  for  years  not  only  in  Chicago  but  in  practically 
every  other  city  where  metering  has  been  proposed.  Yet 
wherever  it  has  been  introduced  experience  has  demon- 
strated that  there  was  and  is  no  basis  for  the  objections 
raised. 

Meters  Do  Not  Restrict  "Use"  of  Water 

Metering  is  not  proposed  as  a  means  of  restricting  the 
"use"  of  water.  "Use,"  we  repeat,  is  meant  to  include 
every  legitimate  use  to  which  water  can  be  put  for  do- 
mestic, industrial,  and  municipal  purposes,  including 
water  for  sprinkling  streets  and  lawns,  extinguishing 
fires,  flushing  sewers,  and  every  other  purpose  for  which 
water  is  necessary  or  has  any  real  value.  The  abundant 
use  of  water  should  be  encouraged  and  every  inducement 
should  be  held  out,  particularly  to  domestic  consumers,  to 
insure  their  using  all  the  water  which  can  possibly  be 
of  value  in  improving  health  and  sanitary  conditions.  To 


162  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

this  end,  rates  should  be  fixed  so  as  to  guarantee  every 
consumer  an  ample  supply  at  a  reasonable  price  which 
he  should  be  required  to  pay  even  though  he  fail  to  use 
his  full  allowance.  A  minimum  charge  of  this  kind 
would  remove  any  inducement  to  "skimp"  or  save  on 
water  at  the  expense  of  health  or  comfort  and,  as  here- 
after pointed  out,  would  serve  other  important  purposes. 

One  reason  why  metering  is  advocated  is  because  it  is 
the  most  effective  means  for  insuring  an  abundant  supply 
of  water  under  sufficient  pressure  to  enable  all  consumers, 
including  those  living  in  sections  remote  from  pumping 
stations  and  upon  the  upper  floors  of  apartment  build- 
ings, to  obtain  promptly  and  at  all  times  the  water  which 
they  require  and  are  entitled  to  for  their  legitimate  uses. 
This  would  be  accomplished  by  curtailing  waste  and  leak- 
age and  not  by  restricting  ' '  use. ' '  Such  a  condition  has 
never  existed  in  Chicago  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  Bureau 
never  will  be  brought  about  until  metering  is  introduced 
on  a  comprehensive  scale. 

Meters  are  not  intended  to  operate  as  a  restriction 
upon  the  "use"  of  water  and  they  do  not  in  fact  produce 
that  result.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  situation  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  in  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  both  of  which 
are  under  complete  meter  control. 

Both  Cleveland  and  Oak  Park  charge  on  the  basis  of 
a  certain  rate  per  thousand  gallons  but  fix  a  minimum 
charge  which  must  be  paid  whether  or  not  the  quantity  of 
water  to  which  the  consumer  is  entitled  for  that  charge 
is  used. 

In  Cleveland,  the  minimum  charge  applicable  to  the 
large  majority  of  consumers  is  $2.50  or  $5.00  a  year,  de- 
pending upon  the  size  of  the  building,  the  number  of  fix- 
tures, etc.  For  these  amounts  consumers  are  entitled 
to  46,875  and  93,750  gallons,  respectively.  For  the  six 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  163 

months  period  ended  September  30,  1915,  there  were 
27,374  consumers  liable  to  pay  at  the  $2.50  rate  and 
60,393  liable  to  pay  at  the  $5.00  rate  regardless  of  whether 
or  not  they  used  the  full  amount  of  water  to  which  they 
were  entitled  under  those  rates.  Of  the  27,374  subject 
to  the  $2.50  rate,  18,141,  or  66  per  cent,  used  less  water 
than  they  were  entitled  to  and  paid  for;  of  the  60,393 
subject  to  the  $5.00  rate,  35,481,  or  58  per  cent,  used 
less  water  than  they  were  entitled  to  and  paid  for,  and 
12,814  used  less  than  half  that  amount.  These  figures 
cover  the  summer  period  when  the  consumption  was  heav- 
iest on  account  of  the  use  of  water  for  sprinkling  pur- 
poses and  on  account  of  such  use  as  may  have  been  made 
of  it  for  cooling  purposes.  During  the  winter  period 
even  a  larger  number  of  consumers  failed  to  use  the 
amount  to  which  they  were  entitled  for  the  minimum 
charge.  The  Bureau  does  not  mean  to  be  understood 
as  expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the  reasonableness  of 
the  charges  here  cited.  The  purpose  in  citing  them  is 
merely  to  show  that  when  consumers  are  required  to  pay 
a  relatively  small  minimum  charge — one  smaller  than 
the  flat  rate  charge  made  in  thousands  of  cases  in  Chi- 
cago— they  are  unable  to  "use"  all  the  water  that  such  a 
minimum  charge  will  buy. 

In  Oak  Park,  the  minimum  charge  is  $7.00  per  year  for 
which  the  consumer  is  entitled  to  36,000  gallons.  The 
accounts  for  a  recent  year  show  that  of  4,546  residential 
consumers  subject  to  this  minimum  charge  941,  or  21 
per  cent,  used  less  water  than  they  were  entitled  to  and 
paid  for. 

At  the  minimum  rates  above  mentioned  there  could  be 
no  possible  incentive  for  anyone  to  restrict  his  use  of 
water,  and  certainly  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  peo- 
ple of  either  Cleveland  or  Oak  Park  have  lower  stand- 


164  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

ards  of  cleanliness  than  the  people  of  other  communities, 
or  that  they  require  less  water  for  their  legitimate  uses. 

Metering  produces  results  not  by  restricting  usage,  but 
by  preventing  waste  and  leakage.  When  a  consumer 
knows  that  he  will  have  to  pay  for  the  water  that  he 
wastes,  he  is  careful  to  avoid  wastage.  He  no  longer  in- 
stalls fixtures  of  a  cheap  and  wasteful  type,  such  as  hop- 
per closets,  or  permits  minor  leaks,  which  can  be  readily 
repaired  at  trifling  expense,  to  continue  indefinitely;  he 
protects  his  pipes  from  freezing  so  that  there  is  no  occa- 
sion to  let  the  water  run  continuously  during  cold  weather 
and  he  shuts  off  the  hose  when  he  is  through  using  it 
for  sprinkling  purposes;  he  avoids  leaving  the  faucet 
open  when  not  using  water ;  and  in  countless  other  ways 
is  careful  to  prevent  waste.  With  practically  every  other 
consumer  exercising  this  care  to  eliminate  waste,  water 
can  be  furnished  so  cheaply  that  no  one  need  think  of 
restricting  the  amount  which  he  can  make  any  use  of. 

Keeping  plumbing  tight  and  shutting  off  the  water 
when  it  is  not  in  use  are  the  important  factors  in  effecting 
waste  control,  and  there  is  nothing  unfair  or  harsh  in 
the  suggestion  that  water  users  be  required  either  to 
observe  these  precautions  or  to  pay  the  penalty  of  their 
own  shiftlessness  and  carelessness.  Experience  shows 
that  about  half  the  people  who  use  water  are  not  wasteful 
or  shiftless.  The  exercise  of  reasonable  care  in  matters 
related  to  the  water  supply,  as  in  other  things,  becomes 
a  habit  with  them  and  imposes  no  hardship.  It  is  mani- 
festly unfair  therefore  to  permit  the  other  half  who  are 
wasteful  to  saddle  the  expense  of  their  carelessness  and 
shiftlessness  upon  their  more  careful  neighbors.  If  con- 
sumers insist  upon  wasting  water,  either  wilfully  or  by 
permitting  their  plumbing  to  remain  continuously  out  of 
repair  or  by  installing  cheap  and  wasteful  fixtures,  they 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  165 

should  be  required  to  pay  for  what  they  waste.  Under 
metering  they  do  pay  for  it.  The  result  is  that  they  soon 
find  it  profitable  to  stop  the  waste. 

A  very  large  amount  of  water  is  wasted  by  those  con- 
sumers who  permit  it  to  run  continuously  in  the  winter 
to  prevent  its  freezing  and  in  the  summer  for  cooling 
purposes.  There  is  no  excuse  for  permitting  the  open 
faucet  as  a  means  of  preventing  freezing.  Property 
owners  should  be  required  to  protect  their  pipes  from 
frost. 

The  problem  growing  out  of  the  use  of  water  for  cool- 
ing purposes  is  not  so  easily  disposed  of,  however,  since 
there  is  considerable  public  sentiment  against  restricting 
the  practice,  which  prevails  largely  in  those  sections  of 
the  City  tenanted  by  families  too  poor  to  provide  them- 
selves with  ice.  Lake  water  is  not  really  effective  as  a 
means  of  refrigeration,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
City,  its  wasteful  use  for  such  purpose  is  expensive. 
Probably  it  would  be  cheaper  for  the  City  to  furnish  the 
poor  with  ice  than  to  permit  a  continuance  of  the  waste 
which  at  present  exists  in  this  connection.  Assuming, 
however,  that  in  the  absence  of  some  better  arrangement 
these  poor  families  can  make  some  legitimate  use  of  water 
for  cooling  purposes,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  they 
now  waste  more  than  they  use  in  the  process.  Only  a 
moderate  quantity  is  required.  A  wide  open  faucet  is 
no  more  effective  than  one  permitting  the  continuous  flow 
of  a  small  stream.  If  proper  care  were  taken  to  regulate 
the  size  of  the  stream,  all  the  water  which  a  family  could 
use  by  letting  it  run  continuously  four  months  of  the  year 
would  not  cost  to  exceed  $2.00.  Moreover,  in  many  cases 
the  minimum  charge  which  a  consumer  should  be  required 
to  pay  would  entitle  him  to  all  the  water  used  in  this  way, 
in  addition  to  that  used  for  other  purposes.  In  such 


166  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

cases,  of  course,  the  use  of  water  for  cooling  purposes 
would  not  impose  any  additional  financial  burden  upon 
the  user. 

It  is  sometimes  urged  that  the  excessive  amount  of 
waste  and  leakage  in  Chicago  tends  to  help  in  the  matter 
of  sanitation.  This  is  due  entirely  to  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  facts.  Waste  reduction  measures  do  not  aim  to 
curtail  the  abundance  of  water  which  is  essential  to  clean- 
liness and  proper  sanitary  conditions.  Their  purpose  is 
to  cut  down  the  enormous  quantity  of  water  which  runs 
away  through  sewers  and  the  ground  without  serving  any 
useful  purpose  whatever.  Attention  has  already  been 
called  (page  147)  to  the  uselessness  of  water  waste  as 
a  sewer  flushing  agency. 

Meters  and  Their  Effect  Upon  Water  Bills 

Another  reason  why  meters  are  opposed  is  the  belief 
that  they  operate  to  increase  water  bills.  This  belief  pre- 
vails quite  generally  where  meters  have  not  been  intro- 
duced. The  consumer  who  pays  his  own  bill  feels  that  in 
order  to  avoid  increased  cost  he  will  have  to  cut  down 
the  amount  of  water  which  he  needs  or  has  been  accustom- 
ed to  use.  The  landlord  who  pays  the  charges  for  the 
water  used  by  his  tenant  fears  that  he  will  be  robbed 
by  the  wastefulness  of  the  latter,  who  will  have  no  in- 
centive to  avoid  waste.  Each  therefore  is  opposed  to 
meters.  Moreover,  the  landlord,  in  addition  to  exerting 
his  own  influence  against  them,  by  threats  of  increasing 
rents  or  otherwise,  often  persuades  his  tenant  to  oppose 
them.  The  opposition  to  -meters  accordingly  becomes 
general. 

Opposition  to  metering  on  this  ground  is  due  entirely 
to  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  effect  of  meters  upon 
charges.  The  experience  of  other  places  shows  that 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  167 

where  rates  are  properly  adjusted  meters  impose  no 
added  financial  burden.  With  their  installation  on  a  large 
scale  in  Chicago,  it  should  be  possible  to  reduce  present 
charges  somewhat  because  of  the  reduction  in  waste  and 
leakage  which  they  will  effect  and  the  consequent  smaller 
amount  of  revenue  that  will  be  required  for  operation, 
maintenance,  and  plant  extension  purposes. 

Selling  water  by  measure  operates  to  equalize  charges 
and  in  the  process  some  consumers,  who  are  large  water 
users  and  who,  on  the  flat  rate  basis,  do  not  pay  for  as 
much  as  they  take,  find  their  bills  increased.  The  vast 
majority  of  consumers  are  not  affected  in  that  way,  how- 
ever. The  fact  that  some  consumers  who  are  large  users 
would  have  their  charges  increased  constitutes  no  valid 
objection  to  metering.  Charges  should  be  in  proportion 
to  the  quantity  consumed  and  if,  under  the  flat  rate  sys- 
tem, some  consumers  pay  less  than  they  should  for  what 
they  take,  that  is  a  sound  reason  for  introducing  the 
meter  system  which  will  require  them  to  pay  their  due 
proportion. 

Perhaps  the  most  effective  way  to  meet  the  objection 
that  meters  increase  the  cost  of  water  to  the  consumer  is 
to  compare  flat  rate  charges  in  Chicago  with  charges  in 
other  places  where  meters  are  in  general  use.  The  num- 
ber of  such  places  might  be  multiplied,  but  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  furnish  excellent  mate- 
rial for  comparison  because  they  are  large  lake  cities 
having  conditions  of  supply  and  consumption  similar  to 
those  of  Chicago.  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  and  those  Chicago 
residential  consumers  who  are  provided  with  meters  also 
furnish  interesting  data. 

Chicago  rates  vary  according  to  the  size  of  the  building, 
the  number  of  fixtures,  the  number  of  occupants  and  other 
conditions.  No  classification  of  consumers  according  to 


168  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

the  various  amounts  actually  paid  is  available.  For  small 
one-story  houses  the  charge  ranges  from  $1.88  to  $4.50 
a  year.*  A  one-family  residence  21  to  24  feet  in  width 
and  two  stories  in  height  having  not  to  exceed  one  com- 
plete set  of  four  fixtures  is  charged  $5.64  a  year;  if  a 
hose  is  used  the  charge  is  $7.14.  This  would  cover  any 
small  house  or  cottage  having  two  finished  rooms  on 
the  second  floor  and  is  typical  of  what  thousands  of  small 
property  owners  are  charged. 

An  ordinary  two-flat  or  apartment  building  having  two 
complete  sets  of  fixtures  is  charged  $10.88  a  year;  if  a 
hose  is  used  the  charge  is  $12.38.  Larger  buildings  or 
additional  fixtures  of  course  result  in  higher  rates. 

Cleveland  sells  water  for  5^  cents  per  1,000  gallons, 
with  a  minimum  charge  of  $2.50  or  $5.00  a  year  (depend- 
ing upon  the  size  of  the  building,  etc.)  applicable  to  the 
large  majority  of  consumers,  who  are  entitled  to  receive 
therefor  46,875  and  93,750  gallons,  respectively.  For  all 
water  used  in  excess  of  those  quantities  the  regular  rate 
of  5^  cents  per  1,000  gallons  is  charged.  For  the  year 
ended  September  30,  1915,  the  total  number  of  consum- 
ers averaged  92,227.  Of  this  number  approximately 
61,000,  or  66  per  cent,  paid  $5.00  or  less ;  approximately 
18,000  of  these  paid  only  $2.50.  That  these  people  did 
not  find  it  necessary  to  restrict  in  any  way  their  use  of 
water  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  nearly  nine-tenths  of 
them  did  not  use  all  the  water  they  were  entitled  to  for 
these  minimum  charges. 

The  Milwaukee  rate  is  six  cents  per  1,000  gallons  with 
no  minimum  charge.  In  1916  there  were  62,592  consum- 
ers. Of  this  number  30,258,  or  48  per  cent,  paid  less  than 
$3.00  for  their  year 's  supply ;  15,616,  or  25  per  cent,  paid 

*The  amounts  here  used  are  the  net  charges  after  the  discount 
of  25  per  cent,  which  is  allowed  for  prompt  payment,  has  been  de- 
ducted. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  169 

between  $3.00  and  $5.00 ;  and  11,316,  or  18  per  cent,  paid 
between  $5.00  and  $10.00.  Thus  nine-tenths  of  the  Mil- 
waukee consumers  paid  less  than  $10.00  a  year  for  their 
water  and  three-fourths  of  them  paid  less  than  $5.00. 

Oak  Park  figures  are  interesting  because  they  show  that 
under  a  meter  rate  such  as  prevails  in  Chicago*  (6£ 
cents  per  1,000  gallons)  very  low  charges  may  be  expected 
even  in  a  high  class  residence  community,  the  people  of 
which  "use"  water  lavishly.  In  Oak  Park  of  course 
waste  and  leakage  are  under  effective  control. 

The  records  show  that  approximately  95  per  cent  of 
Oak  Park  consumers  would  pay  less  than  $10.00  per  year 
at  the  Chicago  meter  rate  of  6£  cents  per  1,000  gallons ; 
and  that  75  per  cent  would  pay  less  than  $5.00  per  year. 
Oak  Park  is  almost  exclusively  a  residence  community. 
An  examination  of  the  accounts  made  by  the  Bureau 
showed  that,  of  5,403  premises  supplied  with  water  for  a 
full  year,  4,546  were  residences  and  453  were  apartment 
buildings ;  also  that  the  average  charge  for  residences  at 
the  Chicago  meter  rate  would  have  been  $4.04  per  year 
and  that  the  average  charge  per  apartment  building 
would  have  been  $8.34  per  year.  These  figures  should 
be  particularly  interesting  to  Chicago  property  owners 
who  are  paying  substantially  double  these  amounts  for 
the  same  kind  of  water  in  the  same  class  of  buildings. 

In  the  sections  of  Chicago  known  as  Austin  and  Morgan 
Park,  there  are  still  in  service  in  residences  and  two- 

*The  Village  of  Oak  Park  purchases  its  water  supply  from  Chi- 
cago at  the  regular  meter  rate  of  6^4  cents  per  thousand  gallons  and 
resells  it  to  consumers  at  from  18  to  15  cents  per  thousand  gallons. 
The  water  is  delivered  to  the  Village  by  the  City  under  a  pressure  of 
from  15  to  25  pounds  and  is  repumped  by  the  Village  and  delivered 
to  its  consumers  under  a  pressure  of  from  35  to  45  pounds.  The 
Village  maintains  and  operates  its  own  pumping  station,  distribution 
system,  and  meters,  and  makes  its  own  collections  from  consumers. 
The  18-15  cent  rate  is  made  to  cover  the  cost  of  these  items  and  also 
to  provide  an  amortization  fund,  the  plant  having  been  purchased 
from  a  private  company  only  a  few  years  ago. 


170  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

apartment  buildings  a  large  number  of  meters  which  were 
installed  prior  to  the  annexation  of  those  sections  to  the 
City.  A  similar  situation  exists  in  Rogers  Park  although 
the  number  of  meters  is  smaller.  An  examination  of  the 
accounts  covering  800  such  premises  in  Austin,  500  in 
Morgan  Park,  and  200  in  Rogers  Park  showed  that  the 
average  charge  per  residence  in  Austin  is  about  $4.50  a 
year;  in  Morgan  Park,  $4.00;  and  in  Rogers  Park,  $6.70. 
More  than  half  of  the  residential  consumers  of  Austin  and 
Morgan  Park  pay  less  than  $4.00  a  year;  in  fact  about 
one-third  of  them  pay  less  than  $3.00.  The  higher  charge 
in  Rogers  Park  is  probably  due  to  the  residences  on  the 
whole  being  larger  and  also  to  the  more  extensive  use  of 
water  for  sprinkling  large  lawns.  The  accounts  covering 
100  two-apartment  buildings  in  Austin  showed  the  aver- 
age charge  for  that  class  of  building  to  be  $5.70. 

The  foregoing  figures  show  clearly  that  the  consumer 
who  keeps  his  plumbing  in  repair  and  is  careful  to  avoid 
waste  may  take  all  the  water  that  he  can  make  any  use 
of  without  fear  of  having  his  charges  increased  by  a 
change  from  the  flat  rate  to  the  meter  method  of  selling 
water.  The  figures  show  also  that  the  ordinary  residence 
arid  small  apartment  house  owners  in  Chicago,  who  are 
careful  about  waste  and  leakage  and  who  are  charged  on 
the  flat  rate  basis,  are  paying  too  much  for  the  water  that 
they  take.  The  careful  consumers,  under  the  flat  rate 
plan,  are  paying  not  only  for  the  water  which  they  re- 
quire, but  for  a  proportionate  part  of  all  the  water  thrown 
away  by  the  shiftless  and  wasteful  consumers.  Under 
universal  metering,  the  careful  consumer  would  be  re- 
warded not  only  with  improved  service,  but  with  lower 
charges,  while  the  wasteful  consumer  would  either  have  to 
eliminate  the  waste  and  leakage  on  his  premises  or  pay 
for  it — an  obviously  fair  and  equitable  arrangement. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  171 

So  far  as  the  danger  of  landlords  being  robbed  by  the 
wasteful  habits  of  their  tenants  is  concerned,  the  Bureau 
believes  that  it  does  not  exist  to  any  considerable  extent. 
The  experience  of  other  cities  where  metering  is  in  effect 
shows  that  the  number  of  tenants  who  wilfully  waste 
water  is  not  large.  It  has  been  said  that  the  proportion 
of  such  tenants  is  probably  not  larger  than  the  propor- 
tion of  landlords  who  steal  water  from  the  city  by  illegal 
connections  with  the  mains.  Much  of  the  waste  ordin- 
arily attributed  to  tenants  is  chargeable  to  careless  land- 
lords who  neglect  to  keep  their  plumbing  in  order  as  re- 
quired by  the  city  ordinances. 

The  average  number  of  consumers  in  Cleveland  for 
the  year  ended  September  30,  1915,  was  92,227.  The 
published  statistics  do  not  show  what  proportion  of  these 
were  tenants.  Of  the  total  number,  however,  approxi- 
mately 61,000,  or  66  per  cent,  paid  $5.00  or  less  for  the 
year.  An  additional  24,571,  or  26  per  cent,  paid  from 
$5.00  to  $16.00.  Still  4,261  others,  or  a  further  4£  per 
cent,  paid  from  $16.00  to  $40.00.  We  think  that  it  may  be 
safely  assumed  that  this  96£  per  cent  of  consumers  who 
paid  $40.00  a  year  or  less  included  practically  the  entire 
tenant  population  and  that  a  large  majority  of  this  popu- 
lation was  included  among  those  who  paid  the  $5.00 
minimum  rate.  For  the  purpose  of  comparison  attention 
is  called  to  the  flat  rate  charged  for  an  ordinary  six  apart- 
ment building  in  Chicago,  which  amounts  to  about  $40.00 
a  year. 

A  similar  situation  exists  in  Milwaukee,  where  in  1916 
97|  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  consumers  paid  less 
than  $40.00 ;  91  per  cent,  less  than  $10.00 ;  and  73  per  cent, 
less  than  $5.00. 

An  average  charge  of  $8.34  (on  the  basis  of  the  Chicago 
meter  rate)  in  Oak  Park  for  apartment  buildings  of  all 


172  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

sizes — including  large  as  well  as  small — compares  quite 
favorably  with  the  Chicago  flat  rate  charge  of  $12.38  for 
an  ordinary  two-flat  building. 

As  previously  pointed  out,  the  average  charge  on  100 
two-flat  buildings  under  meter  control  in  Austin  was 
found  to  be  $5.70  per  year. 

All  the  large  Chicago  apartment  buildings  are  now 
metered,  until  recently  a  meter  having  been  required  on 
any  premises  on  which  the  net  assessment  rate  was  $100 
or  more  per  year.*  Many  smaller  apartment  buildings 
have  also  been  metered  under  previous  ordinances  re- 
quiring meters  on  premises  on  which  the  assessment  was 
then  less  than  $100.  For  the  purpose  of  determining  how 
landlords  in  Chicago  might  be  affected  by  metering,  the 
Bureau  selected  at  random  100  such  buildings  of  various 
sizes  situated  in  different  sections  of  the  City,  and  made 
a  comparison  between  the  actual  meter  charges  thereon 
and  the  charges  that  would  have  been  assessed  on  the 
flat  rate  basis.  It  was  found  that  the  owners  of  56  of 
these  buildings  profited  by  having  meters  and  that  44 
paid  slightly  more  than  they  would  have  paid  under  the 
flat  rate  system.  The  aggregate  revenue  received  by  the 
City  would  have  been  about  the  same  under  either  plan. 
The  effect  of  metering  on  these  premises  was  to  insure 
waste  prevention  and  to  distribute  equitably  the  cost  of 
supplying  water.  That  this  test  does  not  show  a  larger 
number  of  owners  profiting  substantially  through  meter- 
ing and  also  an  aggregate  reduction  in  revenue  received 
by  the  City  is  due  to  the  fact  that  consumers  in  these 
larger  apartment  buildings,  unlike  the  occupants  of  many 
smaller  buildings,  quite  generally  "use"  enough  water 
to  make  the  meter  charges  approximate  the  flat  rate 

*An  ordinance  passed  on  June  25,  1917,  reduced  this  maximum  net 
flat  rate  to  $30.00  per  year,  but  has  not  been  in  effect  long  enough 
to  affect  materially  the  situation  as  it  has  existed  for  several  years. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  173 

charges.  The  figures  show  however  that  a  majority  at 
least  of  these  landlords  were  not  penalized  by  the  wilful 
waste  of  their  tenants,  while  the  meters  were  undoubtedly 
of  advantage  to  the  City  in  that  they  made  it  an  object 
for  the  landlords  to  avoid  the  waste  due  to  leaky  plumb- 
ing. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  City  offi- 
cials report  that  owners  of  small  apartment  buildings,  who 
are  cognizant  of  the  saving  to  be  made  through  the  in- 
stallation of  meters,  frequently  request  them  for  build- 
ings which  under  the  ordinances  are  not  required  to  be 
metered. 

If  all  premises  in  Chicago  were  under  meter  control, 
a  relatively  small  number  of  landlords,  who  under  the 
flat  rate  method  do  not  pay  in  proportion  to  what  their 
tenants  use,  would  probably  have  their  water  bills  in- 
creased. A  few  also  might  be  victimized  by  wasteful 
tenants.  The  Bureau  is  convinced,  however,  that  the 
vast  majority  of  property  owners  who  keep  their  plumb- 
ing in  order  would  benefit  financially  by  the  meter  system. 

Some  protest  against  metering  will  probably  be  heard 
from  those  owners  who  now  fail  to  keep  their  plumbing 
in  repair  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  City 
ordinances  and  the  practice  of  their  more  careful  and 
conscientious  neighbors.  Of  course,  any  system  which 
permits  a  large  portion  of  the  property  owners  to  take 
care  of  their  plumbing  but  does  not  require  the  others 
to  do  so,  permitting  the  latter  to  shift  the  burden  of 
their  neglect  onto  the  former  in  the  shape  of  increased 
water  bills,  is  manifestly  unfair  on  its  face  and  such 
objectors  are  entitled  to  little  consideration.  However, 
considering  that  the  life  of  plumbing  repairs  is  estimated 
at  from  one  to  five  years,  even  these  shiftless  landlords, 
who  will  protest  against  metering,  will  probably  find 


174  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

it  more  profitable  to  make  the  necessary  repairs  and  pay 
for  the  water  used  than  to  continue  paying  the  present,  or 
possibly  increased,  flat  rates. 

Universal  Metering  Recommended 

Partial  metering,  under  which  owners  who  are  found 
to  be  wasteful  of  water  are  required  to  install  meters, 
has  been  adopted  in  some  cities  and  is  sometimes  sug- 
gested for  Chicago.  An  ordinance  passed  by  the  City 
Council  June  25, 1917,  provides,  among  other  things,  that 
"meters  may  be  installed  upon  service  pipes  found  sup- 
plying leaks,  waste  or  unauthorized,  excessive  or  unusual 
use  of  water"  and  that  at  the  discretion  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Works  "said  meters  may  be  removed 

when  cause  for  installation  is  corrected."    This 

ordinance  is  evidently  designed  to  strike  at  the  waste 
evil  by  the  partial  metering  method.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  Bureau  any  such  policy  will  not  meet  the  situation 
in  Chicago  and  is  not  well  advised.  To  be  reasonably 
successful,  partial  metering  must  be  accompanied  by 
persistent  house-to-house  inspections  for  the  purpose 
of  locating  leaks.  It  therefore  has  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  the  house-to-house  inspection  method  as  a 
means  of  preventing  waste,  while  it  lacks  the  equitable 
features  of  universal  metering  under  which  each  con- 
sumer pays  in  proportion  to  the  water  which  he  takes. 
Besides,  it  brings  the  meter  to  the  consumer  in  the  form 
of  a  penalty.  This,  as  hereinafter  explained,  is  repugnant 
to  most  people  and  results  in  increasing  popular  opposi- 
tion to  metering. 

If  the  people  of  Chicago  as  a  whole  are  to  have  ade- 
quate and  satisfactory  water  service  and  if  the  millions 
of  dollars  which  otherwise  will  be  required  for  the  future 
extension  and  operation  of  the  water  works  plant  are  to 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  175 

be  saved,  excessive  waste  and  leakage  must  be  per- 
manently eliminated.  Half-way  measures  will  not  ac- 
complish this.  No  middle  ground  in  the  matter  of  waste 
reduction  is  likely  to  be  found  possible.  Either  waste 
and  leakage  will  be  permitted  to  continue  practically 
without  restriction  as  at  present  or  they  will  be  placed 
under  effective  control  and  reduced  to  a  minimum.  There 
can  be  no  question  as  to  which  policy  should  be  adopted, 
and  experience  shows  that  the  only  effective  and  per- 
manent method  of  control  is  the  placing  of  meters  on  the 
premises  of  all  consumers. 

The  Bureau  therefore  recommends  that  the  City  au- 
thorities at  once  establish  universal  metering  as  a  policy 
and  take  the  necessary  steps  to  put  it  into  effect. 

Plans  for  Putting  Universal  Metering  into  Effect 

Assuming  that  universal  metering  is  adopted  as  a 
policy,  it  probably  will  not  be  practicable  to  put  it  com- 
pletely into  effect  in  less  than  ten  years.  However,  the 
work  can  and  properly  should  be  carried  out  within  that 
time. 

In  carrying  out  the  work  all  new  buildings  should  be 
metered.  There  is  substantial  unanimity  of  opinion  as  to 
this.  There  are  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the  cost 
of  fitting  water  pipes  with  the  necessary  connections  for 
the  meter  is  negligible  when  the  work  is  done  at  the  time 
the  pipes  are  being  run  into  the  building.  When  connec- 
tions are  made  on  old  pipes  considerable  expense  is 
involved  because  of  the  necessity  for  locating,  digging 
up,  and  changing  the  piping.  Secondly,  the  installation 
of  meters  on  new  buildings  scattered  throughout  the  City 
will  help  to  build  up  public  sentiment  favorable  to  meter- 
ing, since  in  practically  all  cases  the  owners  of  new  build- 
ings will  profit  by  having  meters. 


176  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

As  to  the  best  plan  to  follow  in  placing  meters  on  old 
buildings  there  may  be  differences  of  opinion.  In  gen- 
eral there  are  two  ways  in  which  to  proceed.  One  is  to 
select  and  meter  first  those  consumers  who  use  or  are 
suspected  of  using  proportionately  more  water  than  they 
pay  for  under  the  flat  rate  system,  and  also  those  who  are 
found  to  permit  waste  and  leakage.  Under  this  plan  the 
small  and  careful  consumers  would  be  metered  last.  The 
other  way  is  to  divide  the  City  into  districts  and  then, 
proceeding  district  by  district,  to  place  meters  upon  the 
premises  of  all  consumers  without  discrimination. 

The  first  plan  mentioned,  or  selective  metering,  since 
it  reaches  principally  the  larger  users  (who  profit  by  the 
flat  rate)  and  the  conspicuous  wasters,  operates  (a)  to 
increase  the  revenue  derived  from  the  sale  of  water  and 
(b)  to  reduce  waste  and  leakage  more  rapidly  than  does 
the  district  plan.  For  these  reasons,  selective  metering 
commends  itself  to  some.  The  ordinance  passed  on  June 
25,  1917,  heretofore  referred  to,  while  it  does  not  seek  to 
establish  universal  metering,  clearly  embodies  the  idea 
that  in  extending  the  meter  system  it  is  desirable  first  to 
bring  the  large  consumer  and  the  wasteful  consumer 
under  meter  control. 

Neither  increasing  revenue  nor  eliminating  immediate- 
ly a  large  amount  of  waste  and  leakage  is  so  important 
as  insuring  the  effective  and  permanent  solution  of  the 
waste  problem.  From  this  viewpoint  and  for  other  rea- 
sons, selective  metering  has  distinct  disadvantages. 

Under  the  selective  plan  there  is  always  danger  of  dis- 
crimination not  only  as  between  the  individual  consumers 
selected  but  as  between  the  classes  of  consumers  deter- 
mined upon.  In  this  connection,  it  is  perhaps  well  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  saloons  have  long  been  rec- 
ognized as  among  the  most  extravagant  and  wasteful 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  177 

users  of  water  and  the  water  authorities  have  therefore 
urged  the  need  for  placing  them  on  a  meter  basis.  Yet, 
when  the  ordinance  of  June  25, 1917,  was  passed,  extend- 
ing the  meter  system  to  other  presumably  large  or  waste- 
ful consumers — many  of  them  probably  using  or  wasting 
less  water  than  saloons — it  did  not  include  all  saloons 
within  its  provisions. 

There  is  a  more  serious  objection  to  the  selective  plan, 
however.  To  the  large  user  who  has  been  profiting  by 
the  flat  rate  system  a  meter  means  increased  charges.  To 
the  waster  it  comes  in  the  form  of  a  penalty  and  as  a 
rule  also  means  larger  bills.  It  is  of  course  entirely  fair 
that  large  consumers  shall  pay  proportionately  for  the 
water  that  they  take  and  that  the  wasters  shall  be  pen- 
alized. If  these  were  the  only  considerations,  selective 
metering  would  afford  an  admirable  method.  Its  dis- 
advantage lies  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  beginning  when 
the  creation  of  friendly  public  sentiment  is  most  im- 
portant, practically  every  consumer  for  whom  a  meter 
has  been  installed  finds  his  water  bills  increased  and, 
therefore,  becomes  an  active  propagandist  against  meter- 
ing. As  a  result,  the  thousands  of  consumers  still  with- 
out meters  rapidly  get  the  idea  that  metering  will  have 
the  same  effect  in  their  cases,  and  join  in  opposing  a 
further  extension  of  the  meter  system.  This  idea  quite 
naturally  becomes  prevalent,  because  the  large  mass  of 
small  and  careful  consumers,  to  whom  meters  would 
mean  lower  charges,  have  not  had  an  opportunity  to  find 
this  out  for  themselves.  To  invite  such  a  situation  in  a 
community  where  a  strong  prejudice  against  meters  al- 
ready exists  is  bad  tactics  and  may  easily  build  up  so 
much  adverse  public  sentiment  as  to  make  it  practically 
impossible  to  carry  into  effect  a  program  for  universal 
metering. 

Metering  by  districts  obviates  the  disadvantages  just 


178  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

mentioned.  Under  this  plan  the  meter  comes  indiscrim- 
inately to  every  consumer  as  a  just  and  equitable  means 
of  adjusting  water  charges.  Incidentally,  some  large  con- 
sumers will  pay  more  and  the  wasters  will  be  obliged  to 
eliminate  waste  and  leakage  or  to  pay  the  penalty  for 
its  continuance.  Some  of  these  will  protest  but  their  pro- 
tests will  avail  little  against  the  sentiment  created  by  the 
large  majority  of  users  who  will  avoid  waste  and  keep 
their  plumbing  in  repair  and  to  whom  metering  will 
therefore  mean  better  service  and  lower  charges. 

The  tactical  advantage  of  the  district  plan  is  that, 
while  it  may  arouse  the  antagonism  of  a  few,  it  at  the 
same  time  operates  to  cultivate  the  favor  of  the  many 
and  thus,  with  continuously  increasing  effectiveness,  to 
break  down  popular  opposition  until  it  ceases  to  be  a 
matter  of  moment. 

Other  considerations  which  add  to  the  desirability  of 
the  district  plan  are  that  by  concentrating  the  work  the 
cost  of  installing,  maintaining,  and  reading  meters  can 
be  greatly  reduced  and  also  that  the  general  installation 
of  meters  within  a  district  will  be  of  material  assistance 
in  detecting  and  checking  leaks  in  the  distribution  sys- 
tem in  such  district. 

Everything  possible  should  be  done  to  make  meters 
popular  and  the  Bureau  believes  that  when  metering  is 
undertaken  on  a  comprehensive  scale  the  district  plan 
will  produce  the  most  satisfactory  results.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  once  the  district  plan  has  been  established 
the  principle  of  selective  metering  may  be  employed 
profitably  to  a  very  limited  extent  in  coping  with  certain 
well-known  classes  of  wasters. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  179 

Advantages  of  Plumbing  Repairs  Prior  to  Setting  Meters 

The  installation  of  meters  should  be  accompanied  by 
the  inspection  of  all  premises  to  be  metered,  the  owners 
of  which  should  be  required  to  put  their  plumbing  in  re- 
pair before  the  meters  are  set.  If  this  is  not  done  many 
owners  will  permit  leakage  on  their  premises  to  con- 
tinue until  they  learn  through  largely  increased  water 
bills  that  leaks  do  not  pay.  The  result  will  be  that  neither 
the  City  nor  the  owners  will  benefit  to  the  extent  that  they 
should  from  metering,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  dissatis- 
faction over  the  new  system  will  spring  up  among  own- 
ers. In  a  campaign  not  only  to  meter  but  to  popularize 
metering  an  important  advantage  may  be  gained  by  pro- 
tecting owners  against  their  own  ignorance  and  careless- 
ness in  the  beginning,  so  that  they  may  profit  by  having 
meters  installed  and  hence  become  advocates  of  the  new 
method.  No  additional  authority  would  be  required  to 
enforce  such  repairs.  The  present  ordinances,  although 
as  a  rule  not  enforced,  expressly  forbid  waste  and  leakage 
and  authorize  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  to  shut 
off  the  water  from  premises  where  leaks  and  waste  are 
found. 

Metering  Should  be  Accompanied  by  Water  Waste  Surveys 

Metering  should  be  accompanied  also  by  a  systematic 
survey  of  the  distribution  system  and  such  rehabilitation 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary  to  reduce  leakage  in  the 
mains  and  service  pipes  so  far  as  practicable.  Otherwise, 
the  better  service  and  the  economies  which  should  result, 
from  an  aggressive  waste  reduction  campaign  will  not  be 
fully  realized.  Moreover,  the  inevitable  disappointment 
which  will  follow  will  react  against  the  further  extension 
of  the  meter  system. 


180  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Meters  Should  be  Installed  and  Maintained  by  City 

Meters  should  be  owned  by  the  City  and  should  be  in- 
stalled and  maintained  as  a  part  of  the  water  works  plant 
free  of  expense  to  consumers.  This  is  the  most  efficient 
and  economical  plan  to  follow.  An  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule  should  perhaps  be  made  in  the  case  of  meters 
installed  on  lines  supplying  free  water  for  fire  or  other 
emergency  purposes. 

Revenue  Requirements  and  Water  Rates 

Future  revenue  requirements  will  depend  in  a  large 
measure  upon  the  policy  which  the  City  adopts  relative 
to  waste  reduction.  So  long  as  the  present  policy  is  con- 
tinued the  demand  for  more  water  and  better  service  may 
be  expected  to  keep  ahead  of  the  efforts  of  water  works 
officials  to  meet  it.  Under  the  insistent  pressure  of  such 
a  demand  new  tunnels,  pumping  stations,  and  other  plant 
extensions  will  be  started,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  as 
fast  as  projects  under  way  are  completed  and  funds  can 
be  found.  Temporary  relief,  first  for  one  and  then 
another  section  of  the  City,  will  be  afforded  in  this  way, 
but  under  such  conditions  definite,  intelligent,  and  eco- 
nomical planning  for  the  future  will  be  next  to  impossible. 
Revenue  requirements  will  continue  to  grow  and  their 
limitations  win  be  determined  largely  by  what  the  traffic 
will  bear.  Present  rates  are  not  likely  to  be  reduced  and, 
if  they  do  not  produce  sufficient  revenue  to  build  the 
necessary  extensions,  higher  rates  will  have  to  be  pro- 
vided, as  has  recently  been  proposed. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  economical  administration 
of  water  works  finances,  it  is  essential  that  waste  and 
leakage  be  reduced  and  kept  under  effective  control,  so 
that  the  plant  requirements  of  future  years  may  be  fore- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  181 

cast  with  reasonable  certainty  and  revenues  and  rates 
adjusted  accordingly. 

The  control  of  waste  through  universal  metering  will 
effect  an  enormous  ultimate  saving  in  both  operating 
and  construction  costs.  The  immediate  saving,  however, 
will  not  be  so  conspicuous. 

For  several  years  about  half  the  water  fund  has  been 
used  for  ordinary  operating  and  maintenance  expenses ; 
the  other  half,  for  replacements  and  plant  extensions. 
Since  meter  installations  on  old  buildings  will  be  gradual 
and  will  extend  over  a  period  of  several  years,  no  sudden 
decrease  in  expenditures  and  hence  in  the  amount  of 
revenue  required  for  the  operation  and  maintenance  of 
the  plant  can  be  looked  for.  Metering  will,  however, 
operate  to  check  the  increase  in  expenditures  which  other- 
wise will  necessarily  be  made  for  these  purposes. 

The  effect  of  metering  upon  the  amount  of  revenue  re- 
quired for  plant  extensions  will  be  more  immediate. 
The  plant  is  now  so  far  overbuilt  for  all  legitimate  needs 
that,  if  definite  steps  are  taken  to  control  waste  and 
leakage  effectively  within  ten  years,  the  expenditures  for 
additional  tunnels,  pumping  machinery,  and  other  re- 
quirements can  be  for  the  most  part  curtailed.  This  is 
one  reason  why  it  is  important  to  adopt  a  policy  of  uni- 
versal metering  and  to  preserve  its  continuity,  for  until 
such  a  policy  is  definitely  established  water  works  offi- 
cials will  not  be  warranted  in  withdrawing  projects  de- 
signed to  meet  waste  conditions  which  otherwise  will 
have  to  be  faced  in  the  future. 

During  the  period  of  meter  installations  the  saving 
which  can  be  effected  in  plant  additions  will  be  offset  to 
some  extent  by  the  cost  of  purchasing  and  installing  the 
meters.  During  the  first  two  or  three  years  after  the 
policy  of  universal  metering  is  established,  an  allow- 


182  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

ance  will  also  have  to  be  made  for  funds  necessary  to 
complete  projects  already  begun. 

The  rates  now  in  effect  will  produce  more  revenue 
than  will  be  required  for  operating  and  other  purposes 
after  universal  metering  is  begun.  But  in  view  of  all 
the  foregoing  considerations  it  is  important  that,  during 
the  first  few  years  of  the  transition  period,  meter  rates 
do  not  result  in  too  great  a  reduction  in  revenue. 

In  discussing  the  extension  of  meter  rates  and  their 
effect  upon  revenue  and  consumers'  bills,  it  may  be 
assumed  that  sufficient  revenue  to  make  the  water  works 
self-sustaining  must  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  water. 
Water  revenue  should  be  limited,  however,  to  the  amount 
required  for  that  purpose,  and  meter  rates  should  not 
be  adjusted  with  a  view  to  creating  a  surplus  that  can 
be  used  for  other  corporate  purposes.  Attention  has 
already  been  called  in  this  report  to  the  tendency  within 
the  past  two  or  three  years  to  increase  very  largely 
appropriations  diverting  the  water  fund  to  general  cor- 
porate purposes  in  no  way  connected  with  the  water 
works. 

The  Cleveland  meter  rate  is  5£  cents  per  thousand 
gallons,  (subject  to  certain  minimum  charges  heretofore 
referred  to)  the  city  owning  and  maintaining  the  meters. 
The  Milwaukee  rate  is  6  cents  per  thousand  gallons  with 
no  minimum  charge,  the  consumer  paying  at  that  rate 
for  whatever  water  he  may  take  and  no  more.  In  Mil- 
waukee, however,  each  consumer  installs  and  maintains 
his  meter  at  his  own  expense. 

The  Chicago  meter  rate  now  in  effect  is  62£  cents  per 
thousand  cubic  feet,  subject  to  a  discount  of  25  per  cent 
for  prompt  payment.  This  is  equivalent  to  approximate- 
ly 6J  cents  net  per  thousand  gallons.  There  is  no  mini- 
mum charge.  Chicago  premises  now  under  meter  con- 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  183 

trol,  except  those  in  the  third  group  mentioned  below,  are 
supplied  such  large  quantities  of  water  that  a  minimum 
charge  if  applied  to  them  would  have  no  practical  value. 
Metered  premises  are  of  three  general  classes,  namely: 
(1)  those  used  for  certain  industrial  and  commercial 
purposes;  (2)  those  on  which  the  annual  flat  rate  charge 
would  aggregate  $100  or  more* — usually  large  apartment 
buildings;  and  (3)  private  residences  and  small  apart- 
ment buildings — principally  those  situated  in  sections  of 
the  City  where  meters  were  installed  prior  to  annexation. 

Flat  rate  charges  range  from  $1.88  to  $30  net  per 
year.*  Prior  to  June  25, 1917,  they  applied  to  93  per  cent 
of  all  premises,  and  produced  approximately  half  the 
revenue  derived  from  the  sale  of  water.  The  premises  to 
which  these  charges  are  applicable  include  substantially 
all  residences  and  small  apartment  buildings ;  also  many 
larger  apartment  buildings  and  many  buildings  used  for 
commercial  purposes. 

What  would  be  the  effect  upon  water  revenues  if  the 
present  rate  of  6£  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  with  no 
minimum  charge,  were  retained  and  all  unmetered  prem- 
ises were  immediately  placed  under  meter  control?  No 
reliable  estimate  can  be  made,  but  in  a  general  way,  it 
may  be  said  that  probably  there  would  be  some  loss  of 
revenue  due  to  reductions  in  the  bills  of  thousands  of 
small  consumers.  No  definite  data  upon  which  to  base 
such  an  estimate  exist.  Not  even  a  complete  classification 
of  the  unmetered  premises,  according  either  to  their  size 
or  the  nature  of  their  occupancy,  or  to  the  charges  paid, 
is  available. 

With  respect  to  the  larger  users  of  water  who  are  now 
supplied  on  the  flat  rate  basis,  such  information  as  has 
been  compiled  tends  to  the  conclusion  that  the  charges 

*See  pages  66,  172. 


184  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

against  many  of  them  would  not  be  materially  affected 
by  a  change  to  the  meter  basis;  a  considerable  number 
of  others  would  profit  by  the  change ;  others  would  have 
their  bills  increased.  The  revenue  in  the  aggregate 
would  probably  be  increased  somewhat ;  at  least  there  is 
no  occasion  for  anticipating  any  decrease  in  the  total 
revenue  received  from  this  class  of  consumers. 

So  far  as  those  smaller  consumers  who  are  careful 
about  waste  and  leakage  are  concerned,  a  change  to  the 
meter  basis  would  mean  that  they  would  pay  much  less 
than  they  now  pay.  Many  of  them  would  pay  ridiculously 
small  sums  for  the  service  furnished  them.  Hence, 
metering  the  small  consumers  would  undoubtedly  mean 
a  considerable  loss  of  revenue.  To  what  extent  this  loss 
would  be  offset  by  the  increase  in  revenue  from  the  larger 
users  can  only  be  conjectured  in  the  absence  of  more 
definite  information  than  is  now  at  hand. 

Minimum  Charges 

Partly  to  guard  against  too  great  a  loss  of  revenue 
from  this  last  source,  minimum  rates  should  be  fixed.  That 
is,  owners  or  consumers  should  be  required  to  pay  for  a 
certain  amount  of  water  whether  or  not  they  use  it.  For 
all  water  used  in  excess  of  the  quantity  which  the  mini- 
mum charge  will  purchase,  they  will  then  pay  at  the  usual 
rate. 

Another  justification  for  a  minimum  charge  is  that  it 
tends  to  apportion  to  each  consumer  the  actual  cost  of 
supplying  him  with  service. 

In  establishing  minimum  charges  two  other  considera- 
tions should  also  be  kept  in  mind.  Such  charges  should 
be  lower  than  the  present  flat  or  frontage  rates — sub- 
stantially lower,  so  that  the  ordinary  householder  can, 
if  he  is  careful  to  avoid  waste  and  leakage,  save  money 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  185 

without  in  any  way  using  less  water  than  he  is  ordinarily 
accustomed  to  use.  Again,  they  should  be  high  enough 
to  encourage  the  use  of  all  the  water  which  health  and 
comfort  require ;  high  enough  to  deprive  either  the  owner, 
who  pays  his  own  water  bills,  or  the  landlord,  who  pays 
the  bills  for  his  tenants,  of  any  incentive  to  stint  either 
himself  or  his  tenants ;  and  high  enough  so  that  every  per- 
son will  feel  that  he  may  as  well  use  all  the  water  he 
needs,  since  it  must  be  paid  for  whether  actually  used 
or  not.  At  the  same  time,  minimum  charges  should  not 
be  so  high  as  to  entitle  consumers  to  substantially  more 
water  than  they  can  use  to  advantage,  and  thus  to  make 
them  careless  about  waste  and  leakage. 

The  determination  of  a  plan  upon  which  to  base  mini- 
mum charges  presents  a  problem  in  itself.  The  Super- 
intendent of  Water,  Mr.  W.  J.  McCourt,  the  Assistant 
City  Engineer,  Mr.  H.  S.  Baker,  and  the  General  Foreman 
of  Meter  Shops,  Mr.  F.  D.  Anderson,  in  a  report  dated 
October  22, 1913,  recommended  that '  *  an  annual  minimum 

charge,  on  all  meter  controlled  premises shall  be 

made  by  deducting  from  the  assessed  [frontage  or  flat] 
rates  the  per  centum  of  estimated  annual  excess  revenue 
[from  both  meter  and  assessed  rates  accounts]  over  the 
estimated  annual  expenses  appropriated  for  the  current 
year. ' ' 

This  plan  is  open  to  several  objections.  Under  it  the 
careful  consumer  might  or  might  not  save  money;  much 
would  depend  upon  the  estimate  of  revenue,  the  appro- 
priations made  by  the  City  Council  and  the  resultant  ex- 
cess of  revenue,  if  any.  A  probable  excess  of  revenue 
over  the  amount  required  for  necessary  expenses  would 
be  a  constant  temptation  to  extravagant  and  wasteful 
appropriations.  If  the  resultant  minimum  charges  were 
high  and  would  entitle  consumers  to  more  water  than  they 


186  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

could  legitimately  use,  it  would  tend  to  make  users  care- 
less about  waste  and  leakage,  since  they  would  save 
nothing  by  being  careful.  It  is  predicated  upon  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  present  assessment  system  and  the  ex- 
pense involved  therein. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  of  the  City  Club  of  Chi- 
cago on  Water  Waste — Messrs.  Edward  W.  Bemis,  Bay 
Palmer,  and  Henry  W.  Claussen — dated  June  9,  1915, 
suggests  a  sliding  scale  of  minimums  based  upon  present 
frontage  rates.  It  tentatively  proposes,  for  instance, 
that ' '  those  now  paying  on  the  flat  or  frontage  rate  $7.00 
or  less,  might  pay  a  minimum  of  $4.00"  and  that  "those 
paying  a  frontage  rate  of  over  $7.00  and  under  $10.00, 
might  be  asked  to  pay  a  minimum  of  $6.00  per  year,  and 
other  classes  of  consumers  might  be  correspondingly 
treated. ' ' 

This  plan  would  make  it  possible  for  careful  consum- 
ers to  save  money  and  would  encourage  them  to  avoid 
waste.  At  the  same  time  the  minimum  rates  mentioned 
would  provide  all  the  water  that  many  consumers  could 
make  any  legitimate  use  of.  One  objection  is  that  this 
plan  involves  the  expense  of  administering  the  assess- 
ment system. 

From  the  administrative  standpoint,  it  will  be  much 
simpler  and  less  expensive  if  the  minimums  are  fixed 
on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  apartments,  flats,  or 
occupancies  supplied  by  each  meter.  For  instance,  a 
minimum  charge  of  $4.00  might  be  made  for  a  private 
residence  or  other  single  occupancy,  with  a  further  charge 
of  $3.00  for  each  additional  apartment,  flat,  or  occupancy. 

As  a  practical  matter,  experience  will  probably  demon- 
strate that  it  will  be  necessary  to  apply  the  minimums 
fixed  under  either  of  the  first  two  plans  above  referred  to 
principally  in  the  case  of  small  residences  and  flat  or 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  187 

apartment  building  premises.  The  larger  consumers,  as 
Mr.  McCourt  and  his  associates  in  their  report  say,  "will 
never  be  really  involved  from  a  minimum  charge  stand- 
point, because  they  consume  too  much  water  to  fix  any 
proper  basis  to  establish  arbitrary  or  flat  charges  from 
the  point  of  service  rendered,  and,  therefore,  their  con- 
sumption must  be  charged  for  under  meter  measurement, 
which  will  cause  bills  that  will  always  exceed  bills  under 
any  minimum  charge  produced  out  of  our  present  assessed 
rates. '  ' 

In  view  of  this  situation,  it  would  seem  unnecessary  to 
consider  for  larger  premises  an  elaborate  schedule  of 
minimum  charges  based  upon  the  various  existing  flat 
rates.  It  would  also  seem  that  minimums  may  well  be 
fixed  with  a  view  to  their  covering  principally  those 
smaller  premises  to  which  alone  such  charges  will  in  most 
cases  be  found  to  have  any  application. 

The  amounts  mentioned  in  the  last  plan  above  suggest- 
ed are  of  course  tentative.  In  support  of  them  it  may  be 
said,  however,  that  they  are  low  enough  to  make  it 
possible  for  the  owners  of  most  small  residences  and 
small  flat  buildings  to  save  money  on  their  present  water 
bills.  At  the  same  time  they  will  purchase  all  the  water 
used  on  a  large  proportion  of  such  premises.  The  aver- 
age annual  meter  charge  for  residences  in  Austin  was 
found  to  be  about  $4.50;  and  for  residences  in  Morgan 
Park,  $4.00.  At  6£  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  $4.00 
will  purchase  the  average  yearly  residential  consump- 
tion in  Oak  Park.  Also,  it  will  buy  more  water  than 
half  the  consumers  in  Cleveland  use.  Five  dollars  and 
seventy  cents  was  found  to  be  an  average  two-flat  build- 
ing charge  in  Austin,  and  $7.00  will  buy  more  water 
than  three-fourths  the  Cleveland  consumers  use.  Lastly, 
the  amounts  proposed  will  protect  the  water  fund  against 


188  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

loss  from  those  extremely  small  users  who  otherwise 
would  pay  entirely  too  little  for  the  service  furnished 
them. 

The  question  of  the  ultimate  adjustment  of  meter 
charges  is  an  important  one,  and  the  Bureau  recognizes 
that  it  should  be  given  careful  consideration.  It  is  not  at 
all  probable,  however,  that  rates  fixed  in  the  light  of 
present  information  and  existing  conditions  will  stand 
permanently.  For  instance,  if  the  policy  of  universal 
metering  is  undertaken,  by  the  time  meters  have  been 
installed  on  all  premises  and  perhaps  even  before  that 
time,  a  substantial  reduction  in  present  rates  applicable  to 
large  and  small  consumers  alike  should  be  possible.  Ex- 
perience will  determine  the  need  for  future  adjustments 
— adjustments  which  can  properly  be  made  only  in  the 
light  of  experience.  To  attempt,  before  universal  meter- 
ing is  started,  to  anticipate  refinements  and  adjustments 
such  as  may  be  found  expedient  in  the  future  is  likely  not 
only  to  prove  futile  but  to  delay  the  adoption  of  the 
metering  program. 

The  Bureau  believes,  therefore,  that  universal  meter- 
ing should  be  undertaken  at  once ;  that  the  meter  rate  of 
6£  cents  per  thousand  gallons  now  in  effect  should  be  re- 
tained for  the  present;  that  minimum  rates  should  be 
established  upon  the  basis  of  the  number  of  occupancies 
served  by  each  meter,  or  upon  some  modification  of  that 
idea  which  is  simple  to  administer  and  may  be  easily 
understood  by  the  average  consumer,  and  which  will  pro- 
duce those  generally  desirable  results  which  are  the 
proper  end  of  minimum'  charges.  The  Bureau  believes 
further  that  if  such  a  program  is  put  into  effect  imme- 
diately it  will  result  advantageously  to  thousands  of 
small  property  owners,  and  that  it  will  not  materially 
impair  the  water  revenue. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  189 

What  Metering  WUl  Effect: 

Waste  Reduction — Improved  Service — Money  Saving 

Universal  metering  supplemented  by  the  repair  and  re- 
habilitation of  the  distribution  system  will  stop  within 
a  comparatively  short  time  such  waste  and  leakage  as  it 
is  practicable  to  prevent,  and  will  make  it  possible 
thereafter  to  control  them  permanently.  That  is  the  ex- 
perience of  other  cities  where  metering  has  been  tried, 
and  the  same  results  will  follow  in  Chicago  as  else- 
where. 

Cleveland  inaugurated  the  policy  of  universal  metering 
in  1902.  The  plant  had  then  been  in  operation  46  years, 
and  the  per  capita  consumption  had  reached  169  gallons 
per  day.  Six  per  cent  of  the  premises  were  metered  at 
that  date.  By  the  close  of  1909,  this  percentage  had  been 
increased  to  97,  and  waste  and  leakage  had  been  so  far 
eliminated  that  the  per  capita  consumption  had  been  re- 
duced to  97.8  gallons  per  day.  Since  1909  the  per  capita 
consumption  has  increased  to  113.2  gallons  per  day  in 
1916.  The  increase  of  the  last  few  years  is  to  be  account- 
ed for  in  part  by  a  larger  industrial  use  and  in  part  by 
the  growing  tendency  in  Cleveland  as  in  other  American 
cities  to  use  more  water  for  domestic  purposes,  due  to 
the  requirements  of  better  standards  of  living  and  the 
more  widespread  installation  of  facilities  for  using  water. 

Boston  began  extending  the  meter  system  in  1909.  In 
1908,  5.7  per  cent  of  the  services  were  metered,  and  the 
per  capita  consumption  was  153  gallons  per  day.  By  the 
close  of  1916,  66  per  cent  of  the  services  had  been  metered, 
and  the  per  capita  consumption  had  fallen  to  105  gallons 
per  day.  Boston  also  supplements  metering  to  some  ex- 
tent by  house-to-house  inspections. 

Milwaukee  began  to  install  meters  on  an  extensive  scale 
relatively  soon  after  the  plant  was  built.  During  1887  the 


190 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


5 1 


The  Waterworks  System  of  Chicago  191 

per  capita  consumption  reached  113  gallons  per  day.  The 
total  pumpage  then  approached  the  capacity  of  the  plant 
and  measures  to  conserve  the  supply  were  immediately 
necessary.  Metering  was  decided  upon  and  was  gradually 
introduced.  During  the  fifteen-year  period  ended  in  1902, 
the  daily  per  capita  consumption  was  reduced  from  113 
gallons  to  80  gallons.  Since  1902  the  per  capita  consump- 
tion has  steadily  increased,  until  in  1916  it  reached  118  gal- 
lons per  day,  although  at  the  close  of  last  year  the  percent- 
age of  services  metered  had  been  increased  to  99.  This  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Milwaukee  began  to  introduce 
universal  metering  before  facilities  for  the  use  of  water 
for  domestic  purposes  were  furnished  extensively,  and 
before  its  industrial  consumption  had  been  fully  de- 
veloped. Subsequent  development  along  both  these  lines 
accounts  for  the  increased  consumption  of  recent  years 
which  under  the  circumstances  was  to  be  expected.  There 
is  no  doubt,  however,  but  that  Milwaukee  has  profited 
greatly  from  undertaking  to  control  waste  and  leakage 
early  in  the  development  of  its  water  works  system. 
Otherwise  the  losses  from  these  sources  probably  would 
have  reached  as  serious  proportions  as  they  have  in 
Chicago. 

Conditions  in  Chicago  with  respect  to  both  domestic 
and  industrial  consumption  are  more  nearly  comparable 
with  conditions  in  Cleveland  and  Boston  at  the  time 
metering  was  undertaken  in  those  cities.  The  general  in- 
troduction of  meters  in  Chicago  may  therefore  be  ex- 
pected to  produce  results  similar  to  those  secured  by 
Cleveland  and  Boston.  The  Bureau  believes  that  it  is 
practicable  through  metering  and  proper  attention  to 
checking  leaks  in  the  distribution  system  to  reduce  waste 
and  leakage  in  Chicago  so  that  the  per  capita  consump- 
tion, which  in  1916  was  259  gallons  per  day,  will  not 


192 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  193 

exceed  125  gallons  per  day.  As  has  already  been  in- 
dicated, that  amount  of  water  will  provide  an  abundant 
supply  for  all  purposes. 

The  benefits  which  will  accrue  from  this  reduction  in 
waste  and  leakage  will  be  twofold  in  nature.  The  service 
will  be  greatly  improved  and  a  very  large  money  saving 
will  be  effected. 

The  improved  service  which  will  result  will  be  the 
important  primary  benefit.  It  will  mean  that  consum- 
ers in  all  sections  of  the  City,  including  those  situated 
at  points  remote  from  pumping  stations  and  those  occupy- 
ing the  upper  floors  of  buildings,  will  have  an  uninter- 
rupted supply  of  water,  delivered  at  all  hours  under 
pressure  that  will  enable  them  to  draw  water  promptly 
and  in  abundance.  Such  a  condition  has  never  existed 
in  Chicago. 

The  relation  of  waste  and  leakage  to  the  present  inade- 
quacy of  supply  and  insufficiency  of  pressures  has  been 
previously  discussed.  It  is  sufficient  at  this  time  to  repeat 
that  waste  reduction  will  result  in  materially  raising 
pressures  throughout  the  distribution  mains,  without 
necessitating  any  increase  of  pressures  at  the  pumping 
stations.  Reducing  the  amount  of  water  transported 
will  reduce  velocities  in  the  mains  and  therefore  the 
losses  of  pressure  due  to  friction  caused  by  the  flowing 
water.  Such  losses  which  now  often  amount  to  from  10 
to  15  pounds  can  be  reduced  to  less  than  five  pounds, 
and  the  pressures  at  which  water  will  be  delivered  to 
consumers  without  any  additional  cost  for  pumping  will 
be  increased  accordingly.  Also  with  waste  and  leakage 
reduced  to  a  reasonable  minimum,  the  pumps  can  raise 
the  pressures  at  present  maintained  at  the  pumping  sta- 
tions, if  it  is  necessary  or  desirable  to  do  so,  thus  in- 
creasing still  further  the  pressures  at  which  the  water 


194  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

will  be  delivered.  Under  present  conditions  this  cannot 
be  done  during  periods  of  greatest  consumption,  and  to 
attempt  it  at  other  times  would  result  in  additional  ex- 
pense for  pumping,  but  in  little  improvement  in  service. 
Under  the  higher  initial  pressures  the  water  would  run 
away  much  faster  through  the  thousands  of  wide-open 
leaks.  The  result  would  be  more  water  pumped,  higher 
velocities,  greatly  increased  losses  of  pressure  through 
friction,  and  little,  if  any,  additional  pressure  at  the 
points  of  delivery  to  consumers. 

How  Money  Saving  Will  be  Effected 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  metering  will  be  profita- 
ble as  a  business  proposition,  and  since  the  water  works 
is  in  effect  a  co-operative  enterprise  the  profits  which 
will  accrue  will  be  reflected  in  lower  water  rates.  That 
meters  will  more  than  pay  for  themselves  through  the 
savings  which  they  will  make  possible  in  other  directions 
is  certain.  The  only  question  is  as  to  the  extent  of  the 
aggregate  saving.  This  saving  will  be  effected  in  two 
ways :  (1)  by  reducing  expenditures  for  additions  to  the 
water  works  plant  and  (2)  by  reducing  operating  and 
maintenance  costs. 

Chicago  can  continue  its  present  policy  as  to  waste 
control  or  it  can  adopt  universal  metering  as  a  means  of 
preventing  waste  and  leakage.  The  direct  value  of  meters 
can  be  calculated  by  estimating  the  comparative  cost  of 
building  and  operating  the  water  works  plant  under  these 
alternatives.  The  following  conclusions  as  to  the  financial 
benefits  which  will  result  from  the  general  introduc- 
tion of  meters  are  based  upon  such  an  estimate  made  for 
the  Bureau  by  Mr.  John  W.  Alvord. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  195 


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196  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

Savings  in  Capital  Outlays  for  New  Plant 

The  savings  which  can  be  effected  by  reducing  capital 
outlays  for  new  plant  will  depend  upon  the  extent  to 
which  the  construction  of  additional  tunnels,  cribs,  pump- 
ing stations,  and  mains  can  be  deferred  or  curtailed.  The 
Chicago  Water  Works  is  far  overbuilt  for  present  needs. 
With  the  completion  of  the  new  Mayfair  pumping  station, 
which  is  expected  early  in  1918,  the  plant  will  have  suffi- 
cient capacity  to  supply  the  legitimate  requirements  of 
a  population  of  at  least  five  million.*  It  is  not  probable 
that  this  population  will  be  reached  before  1950.**  The 
obvious  conclusion  is  that  if  waste  and  leakage  are 
brought  under  control  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  construct 
any  more  tunnels,  cribs,  and  pumping  stations  until  after 
1950.  The  estimates  of  the  Bureau  are  limited  to  the  in- 
tervening period,  although  the  savings  which  will  result 
from  the  immediate  installation  of  meters  will  ultimately 
aggregate  much  larger  amounts  than  those  set  forth  in 
this  report. 

Assuming  that  waste  control  in  Chicago  will  continue 

*Upon  the  completion  of  the  Mayfair  station  and  certain  changes 
now  in  progress  in  the  Chicago  Avenue  and  Twenty-second  Street 
stations,  the  plant  will  have  a  rated  capacity  of  1,100  million  gallons 
per  day.  Assuming  an  average  daily  per  capita  consumption  of  125 
gallons,  this  is  sufficient  capacity  to  supply  a  population  of  five  mil- 
lion and  to  provide  an  ample  reserve  for  peak  load  periods  and  other 
purposes. 

**The  estimated  population  of  Chicago  in  1916,  upon  the  basis 
of  the  Federal  census,  was  2,491,933;  upon  the  basis  of  the  school 
census  of  March,  1916,  it  was  2,550,000.  It  is  the  concensus  of  opinion 
among  persons  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  probable  future 
growth  of  the  city  that  the  population  will  reach  five  million  about 
1950.  In  discussing  this  subject  the  Chicago  Traction  and  Subway 
Commissioners  (Messrs.  Wm.  Barclay  Parsons,  Bion  J.  Arnold,  and 
Robert  Ridgway)  in  their  recent  report  said: 

"A  study  of  these  [population]  charts  and  a  careful  analysis  of 
the  various  economic  conditions  in  the  city,  as  disclosed  by  recent 
investigations  of  other  boards  and  commissions  and  by  studies  made 
by  the  Commissioners,  point  to  the  general  conclusion  that  it  is  rea- 
sonably safe  to  assume  that  Chicago's  growth  will  continue  at  a  rate 
which  will  realize  a  population  of  not  less  than  5,000,000  persons  by 
about  the  year  1950.  In  a  number  of  exhaustive  studies  of  this  pop- 
ulation question  for  Chicago  the  prediction  is  made  of  a  population 
ranging  from  4,500,000  to  5,500,000  by  1950." 


id 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  197 

to  be  what  it  has  been  up  to  the  present  time,  Mr.  Alvord 
assumes  also  that  the  per  capita  consumption  will  con- 
tinue to  increase  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  and  esti- 
mates that  by  1950  it  will  reach  415  gallons  per  day;  also 
that  the  pumpage  at  that  time  will  be  2,000,000,000  gallons 
per  day.  Mr.  Alvord  assumes  further  that  the  construc- 
tion of  tunnels,  cribs,  pumping  equipment,  and  distribu- 
tion system  will  necessarily  be  made  to  keep  pace  with 
the  growth  in  total  consumption,  and  estimates  that  the 
total  cost  of  the  water  works  plant  which  at  the  close  of 
1916  was  $70,773,556  will  reach  the  sum  of  $200,000,000 
by  1950. 

Assuming,  on  the  other  hand,  that  a  policy  of  universal 
metering  is  adopted;  that  beginning  with  1918  all  new 
services  will  be  metered  as  connected  to  the  mains ;  that 
all  old  services  will  be  metered  within  the  next  ten  years 
at  a  uniform  rate  of  ten  per  cent  per  year;  and  that  a 
comprehensive  waste  survey,  which  will  reduce  waste 
and  leakage  outside  the  property  lines  of  consumers  to 
23  gallons  per  day,  will  be  carried  on  at  the  same  time, 
it  is  Mr.  Alvord 's  belief  that  the  per  capita  consumption 
can  be  reduced  to  125  gallons  per  day  by  1928,  and  that 
the  pumpage  can  be  reduced  to  425,000,000  gallons  per 
day  at  that  time  as  compared  with  645,000,000  gallons 
per  day  in  1916 ;  also  that  the  daily  pumpage  can  be  kept 
considerably  below  this  1916  figure  as  late  as  1950. 

This  reduction  in  pumpage  will  make  possible  an  im- 
mense saving  in  expenditures  for  water  works  plant.  It 
will  mean  that  additional  tunnels,  cribs,  and  pumping  sta- 
tions will  not  be  needed  for  33  years  and  that  during  that 
time  there  will  be  no  necessity  for  laying  new  feeder 
mains  except  in  localities  which  are  at  present  unde- 
veloped. 

Mr.  Alvord  estimates  the  cost  of  the  plant  which  will 


198 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


199 


200  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

be  required  prior  to  1950  under  these  conditions  at  $106,- 
000,000.  In  making  this  estimate  it  is  assumed  that  the 
construction  of  pipe  lines  14  inches  and  under  will  con- 
tinue at  the  same  rate  as  at  present,  but  that  the  construc- 
tion of  large  feeder  mains,  except  as  required  to  develop 
new  territory,  will  not  be  required  previous  to  1950. 
The  cost  of  meters  and  their  setting,  estimated  at  $24.00 
per  meter,  is  included  in  the  cost  of  the  plant  under  this 
plan.  On  this  basis  the  aggregate  cost  of  installing  meters 
during  the  first  10  years  will  be  approximately  $9,000,- 
000,  or  an  average  of  $900,000  per  year.  After  all  ser- 
vices are  metered,  the  annual  cost  of  meter  installations 
necessitated  by  the  increase  in  population  will  be  approx- 
imately $200,000. 

The  difference  in  the  cost  of  the  plant  under  the 
different  conditions  above  outlined  represents  the  addi- 
tional investment  which  will  have  to  be  made  unless 
universal  metering  is  adopted  and  is  supplemented  by 
waste  surveys  to  check  leakage  in  the  distribution  sys- 
tem. Assuming  present  conditions  to  continue  until  1950, 
this  additional  investment  will  reach  $94,000,000.  The 
money  thus  invested  (as  well  as  the  money  to  operate  and 
maintain  the  plant  in  which  it  is  invested)  will  have  to  be 
advanced  by  water  consumers  in  addition  to  the  moneys 
which  otherwise  will  be  required  of  them. 

The  immediate  loss  (exclusive  of  increased  operating 
charges)  entailed  by  this  additional  investment  will  be 
the  value  of  the  use  of  the  fund  invested  plus  the  loss 
due  to  depreciation  on  the  equipment.  Assuming  an 
annual  interest  rate  of  4  per  cent  (which  is  the  prevailing 
rate  on  municipal  loans)  and  an  average  annual  deprecia- 
tion charge  of  1  per  cent  (which  is  a  usual  charge  on  water 
works  properties),  during  the  period  between  now  and 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


201 


202  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

1950  the  losses  from  these  items  will  aggregate  $53.000,- 
000  and  $13,000,000,  respectively.  These  sums,  therefore, 
represent  the  immediate  savings  which  can  be  effected 
by  reducing  expenditures  for  additional  plant.  The  table 
on  page  206  shows  the  estimated  savings  for  shorter 
periods. 

The  ultimate  loss  on  the  additional  investment,  and 
therefore  the  ultimate  saving  involved  in  avoiding  the 
necessity  for  such  investment,  will  depend  upon  what  use, 
if  any,  can  be  made  of  the  additional  physical  plant  in 
existence  at  the  end  of  any  period  that  may  be  selected 
as  the  basis  for  an  estimate.  Assuming  a  further  con- 
tinuation of  the  present  policy,  interest  and  depreciation 
charges  will  run  on  indefinitely.  Assuming,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  at  some  future  date  this  policy  will  be  aban- 
doned and  effective  waste  control  measures  put  into 
effect,  the  loss  incurred  subsequent  to  that  date  will  depend 
upon  the  extent,  if  any,  to  which  the  remaining  plant  in- 
vestment not  then  required  for  immediate  use  can  there- 
after be  utilized.*  The  availability  of  such  plant  for 
future  use  will  be  determined  largely  by  the  future  growth 
of  population  within  the  territory  which  it  is  constructed 
to  serve.  Upon  such  parts  of  the  equipment  as  are  in  fact 
subsequently  used  the  loss  will  be  measured  by  the 
interest  and  depreciation  charges  while  such  use  is  de- 
ferred. Since,  however,  the  use,  if  any,  of  such  equip- 
ment will  not  be  immediate  and  may  be  long  deferred, 
depreciation  may  operate  to  impair  its  value  so  seriously 
as  to  amount  to  the  practical  destruction  of  the  invest- 
ment. As  to  those  parts  for  which  no  future  use  is  found, 
the  investment  will  of  course  be  entirely  lost.  This  ulti- 
mate loss  will  depend,  therefore,  upon  a  multiplicity  of 

*It  is  assumed  that,  so  far  as  the  original  investment  has  become 
impaired  through  the  use  of  the  plant  or  otherwise,  the  loss  prior  to 
such  date  is  included  in  the  item  of  depreciation. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  203 

various  conditions — the  amount  of  capital  actually  in- 
vested in  the  plant;  whether  or  not  equipment  not  re- 
quired immediately  can  be  used  subsequently;  and  how 
long  such  use,  if  any,  will  be  deferred.  To  attempt  to 
anticipate  these  conditions  and  to  estimate  such  loss,  or, 
stated  conversely,  the  saving  which  will  result  from 
avoiding  it,  would  be  futile.  The  Bureau  wishes  to  call 
attention,  however,  to  the  fact  that  the  savings  which  it 
has  estimated  are  not  the  only  savings  involved  in  re- 
ducing expenditures  for  additional  water  works  plant.  To 
the  extent  that  the  investment  in  such  plant  can  be  avoid- 
ed the  City  will  save  itself  additional  losses  which  other- 
wise will  result.  Of  course  there  are  also  other  distinct 
advantages  to  be  gained  by  not  investing  capital  in  equip- 
ment until  its  use  is  actually  required. 

Savings  in  Operating  and  Maintenance  Costs 

The  savings  which  can  be  effected  in  operating  and 
maintenance  costs  will  result  largely  from  the  reduced 
pumpage  which  will  be  required  with  preventable  waste 
and  leakage  eliminated.  A  reduced  pumpage  will  mean 
reduced  expenditures  for  labor,  fuel,  supplies,  repairs, 
and  other  purposes. 

Mr.  Alvord  estimates  that,  if  the  present  policy  as  to 
waste  control  is  continued,  operating  and  maintenance 
costs  which  in  1916  amounted  to  $3,530,000  will  increase 
to  $10,054,000  by  1950,  and  that  the  average  annual  cost 
of  operation  for  the  33  years  beginning  with  1918  will  be 
$6,880,000.  This  estimate  is  based  upon  a  study  of 
operating  conditions  and  costs  for  the  past  ten  years  as 
reported  by  the  annual  reports  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Works  and  upon  the  assumption  that  the  pumpage 
will  increase  as  heretofore  indicated. 

Mr.  Alvord  also  estimates  that,  with  the  reduced  pump- 


204  Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 

age  that  will  result  from  the  program  for  waste  control 
outlined  on  page  197,  operating  and  maintenance  costs 
will  increase  to  only  $5,640,000  by  1950,  and  that  the 
average  annual  cost  will  be  $4,780,000.  This  estimate 
includes  an  amount  to  cover  the  cost  of  a  comprehensive 
waste  survey  and  to  provide  for  repairs,  maintenance, 
reading  and  accounting  on  the  meters.  The  annual  cost 
of  repairing  and  reading  meters  is  estimated  at  $1.50  per 
meter  and  will  average  approximately  $290,000  per 
year  for  the  first  10  years.  With  the  system  completely 
metered  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  year,  the  cost  of  these 
items  will  be  approximately  $575,000  per  year,  and  there- 
after, as  the  number  of  meters  increases,  will  increase  at 
the  rate  of  about  $12,500  per  year.  Under  this  plan  the 
total  saving  in  operating  costs  which  will  be  realized  dur- 
ing the  next  33  years  will  amount  to  $69,000,000. 

Total  Saving  to  be  Effected 

The  estimated  savings  in  interest  and  depreciation  on 
the  water  works  plant  and  in  operation  and  maintenance 
costs  which  will  result  from  universal  metering  will 
thus  aggregate  $135,000,000  during  the  33-year  period 
ending  1950.  The  following  table  shows  also  the  esti- 
mated savings  which  can  be  effected  for  periods  of  10 
and  20  years.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  first  ten  years 
not  only  will  universal  metering  save  $7,600,000  but  that 
under  it  the  estimated  amount  of  capital  necessary  for 
investment  in  plant  will  be  $15,000,000  less  than  will  be 
required  if  present  conditions  of  waste  continue.  This 
difference  of  $15,000,000  in  capital  outlay  is  net,  allow- 
ance having  been  made  for  the  entire  cost  of  installing 
the  meters. 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago 


205 


CHART  SHOWING    x 

THE  ENORMOUS  SAVING  THAT  CAM  BE  MADE, 

WITHOUT  RESTRICTING  THE  USE  OF  WATER, 

IF  UNIVERSAL  METERING  is  ADOPTED  AS  A  MEANS  OF 

PREVENTING  WATER  WASTE  AND  LEAKAGE 


33  YEARS'  SAVING 
ft  155,000,000 


ESTIMATED    SAVING 

BETWEEN 
1918  AND 


20  YEARS'  SAVING 
$41,900,000, 


10 YEARS'  SAVING 
$  7,600,000 


206 


Chicago  Bureau  of  Public  Efficiency 


Table  Showing  Estimated  Additional  Capital  Which  Will  Be  Required 

to  Construct  Water  Works  Plant  If  Universal  Metering  Is 

Not  Adopted;  also  Estimated  Saving  Which  Can 

Be  Effected  by  Universal  Metering  During 

Different  Periods  Beginning  in  1918 


10  Years 

20  Years 

33  Years 

Additional  Capital  to  be  Required  in 
Absence  of  Universal  Metering  

$14,950,000 

$46,850,000 

$94,000,000 

Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Universal 
Metering  — 
Interest  at  4%  

$2,830,000 

$15,390,000 

$53,000,000 

Depreciation  at  1%  

710,000 

3,850,000 

13,000,000 

Ordinary  Operating  and  Main- 
tenance Charges  

4,060,000 

22,660,000 

69,000,000 

Total  Saving  to  be  Effected  by  Uni- 
versal Metering  During  Respective 
Periods.*  

$7,600,000 

$41^900,000 

$135,000,000 

*  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  estimate  the  further  saving  to  be  effected  by  avoiding  the 
loss  which  will  result  after  the  expiration  of  the  respective  periods  from  the  destruction  or 
deferred  use  of  the  additional  capital  which  will  have  to  be  invested  if  universal  metering  ia 
not  adopted.  (See  pages  202-3.) 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  EXISTING  CONDITIONS 

The  City  Engineer  and  other  administrative  officials 
for  more  than  fifteen  years  have  been  urging  the  City 
Council  to  authorize  metering  as  the  only  means  by  which 
permanent  relief  from  waste  and  leakage,  and  the  re- 
sultant inefficient  service  and  financial  loss,  can  be  ob- 
tained. The  Mayor  and  the  Aldermen,  however,  have 
thus  far  failed  to  support  these  appeals  in  anything  like 
an  adequate  way. 

The  public  also  is  quite  generally  either  apathetic  or 
antagonistic  to  the  idea  of  metering.  This  is  because  the 
public,  for  the  most  part,  is  not  acquainted  with  the 
facts  concerning  the  effect  of  meters  both  upon  the  use  of 
water  and  upon  water  bills.  Experience  shows  that  a 


The  Water  Works  System  of  Chicago  207 

meter  will  neither  increase  the  water  bill  of  the  ordinary 
householder  nor  restrict  him  in  his  customary  use  of 
water,  and  that  meters  produce  results  entirely  by  elim- 
inating waste  and  leakage,  thus  obviating  the  necessity 
for  providing  equipment  with  which  to  pump  and  dis- 
tribute an  enormous  volume  of  water  that  serves  no  useful 
purpose. 

The  City  Council  should  recognize  this  state  of  affairs 
and  should  accept  the  responsibility  for  remedying  the 
existing  situation  by  initiating  and  carrying  out  a  pro- 
gram for  universal  metering.  In  this  undertaking,  the 
Council  should  have  the  earnest  and  active  support  of 
every  householder,  tenant,  and  property  owner  in  the  City. 


•187 


